A Stranger Returns
by greengrl
Summary: Ten years have passed since Hogwarts and the trials of life have taken Lily away from the magical world and she's lost her spark. A crazy turn of events and the reappearance of a familiar face turns her world upside down. Lily/James
1. Mr Dawes

Lily pulled her curly red hair into a tight bun on her hair. Her unruly hair was frizzy and unkempt and she yearned for a hot bath to relax and forget her week. She knew she had to finish her article though, her job at the local newspaper paid the bills and she needed this . This week's thrilling topic was the conspiracy that the local council was putting the parking fine money towards their social calendar of events instead of local causes. Her writing had tried to give the small town scandal an edge but she was struggling to come up with an ending that wasn't dripping in sarcasm. She scribbled something about awaiting a statement from the local council ahead of their annual review and then threw her pen on the desk and sighed.

Her desk overlooked the street and she could see a couple of local kids playing on their bikes outside, a girl and a boy laughing and chasing each other back and forth. She sighed as the sight brought back a memory of her childhood and she shook it away not looking to get sentimental today. She stood and headed downstairs with the article, she knew she had to type up and drop the article off before 2pm otherwise she was going to miss the print deadline so she grabbed her handbag and headed to the door. Before she grabbed the door handle she realised she didn't have her car keys and turned to the table in the hallway. The keys weren't in the bowl on top so she opened the drawer and rummaged around inside.

She pushed old letters and junk to the side and saw the keys were underneath and went to grab them, as she did she felt a warm jolt to her hand and realised she had brushed up against her wand. It was in the back of the drawer, unused and covered in dust. She jerked her hand back in shock and stared down at her wand. She hadn't looked at it in some time and had no urge to take it out today. She grabbed her keys and slammed the drawer shut and headed back to the door.

As she drove she couldn't help but thinking about her wand in that little drawer in her house, it had been unused for at least 5 years now. She had left Hogwarts with all the energy that the top student should have, a number of job offers in the ministry and a place to train as a healer is she had wanted. She had initially chosen to start her healer training and had begun her first year but 7 months in her mother had taken ill and due to her sister's responsibility with her fiancee at the time and the stress of trying to plan the wedding it had fallen to Lily to move back home and take care of her. Her mother's illness had taken its toll and became a full time role for Lily. She had taken a job at the local newspaper to keep money coming in and also it allowed her to work from home a lot.

Her mother had always been supportive of Lily's abilities during the school years. Lily's abilities made Lily special and in turn made her special as she was her mother. But her illness changed her mother and soon Lily could see the resentment begin to grow as her illness got worse. Eventually Lily began hiding her magic, trying to only do little bits in the other room where her mother couldn't see. Eventually her wand would just get left in a drawer and her magic became like a past dream. Lily didn't always miss it, sometimes she felt a resentment to her power also as she could do so much but she couldn't heal her mother.

At first she kept in touch with her school friends, sending weekly owls and hearing about their adventures of travelling and training in their various jobs. But it didn't take long for the owls to become less and less and Lily didn't mind because she hated hearing about the sucess and fun they were having while she was stuck at home. This then turned to guilt and soon she cut herself from everyone completely apart from the occasional phone call from her sister. One particular call was to say that the wedding was going ahead but Petunia thought it better for Lily to stay home and care for their Mother. Lily knew that was just an excuse to keep her away but she agreed, she had no fight left in her to argue and she hated her brother-in-law and his pompous family anyway.

Her mother passed away two years later but Lily didn't feel like it was that long ago. She still took a big inhale of breath and bit back tears every time she thought of the dark time. She had promised herself that as soon as she had some time to mourn she would do something with her life, get back on track and become the success she had worked so hard at school for. But for now she was still working for her local muggle job and wasn't in touch with the magical world at all.

Her car, actually her mother's old mini, pulled into the car park to the newspaper offices and she parked up. Her boss was a little old man called Mr Herbertson and he was very uptight and grumpy but had a good heart deep down. He had been kind to her during her mother's illness and kept her in work.

"Evans, you're cutting it close this week." Herbertson said across the office as she walked in. She could see he was standing in the doorway of his office with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"I know I'm sorry. I wanted to make sure it was right." Lily said apologetically shrugging her shoulders. She sat at the temp desk and quickly slid a piece of paper into the typewriter and started typing up the article. Herbertson rolled his eyes but Lily knew he had a soft spot for her and she wasn't in trouble. She typed quickly and then put the sheets with Ms Fields who was Mr Herbertson's secretary.

"Thanks Gina," Lily said straining a smile as she dropped the paper on her desk. Gina was very glamorous for a small town receptionist, her bleached blonde hair was coiffed like a movie star and she always had a slick of red lipstick on. She glanced over her rhinestone covered cat's eye glasses and looked at Lily.

"You know Lily," she smiled over her glasses. "You've got great potential you know. I read your stuff. You've got talent. Maybe you should try and get on the crime beat, get something a bit meatier than what the idiots at the local council are up to." She said inspecting her ruby red nail polish. Lily nodded, she'd heard it all before about her potential but she just didn't have the energy to go for it. Ms Fields inspected Lily and then turned to look over her shoulder to see if Herbertson was watching.

"I didn't give you this got it." She said and Lily looked at her confused. Gina grabbed a piece of note-paper and scribbled something on it quickly. She handed the piece of paper to Lily quickly then lowered her voice.

"Go to this address and ask for Mr Dawes about the incident he called about. He called here earlier and I said I'd send someone over but there's nobody around because of those robberies down at the high school so you can have it. All sounded very strange but you've got it." She said shooing Lily away. Lily stared at the paper then back at Gina and felt very confused.

"Go!" She said wiggling her fingers more vigorously before picking up the ringing telephone next to her. Lily folded the paper and placed it in her jeans pocket before heading out the door. She got into her car and pulled the paper out of her pocket again to look at it. All it said was,

" _15 Capersworth Drive, Mr Dawes, weird lights_ "

Not much to go on, Lily thought. She knew where the address was as it was only a few blocks from her home so she decided to drive by on her way home.

As she turned into the street she felt a shiver run up her back and she slowed the car as a cold crept over her. She continued down the street and as she neared the end she saw number fifteen was the second to last of the street. She pulled the car to a stop by the curb and looked across as the house. It looked pretty normal, the grass on the lawn was very overgrown and a number of weeds seemed to be overpowering the flower beds but other than that she didn't see anything strange.

Normally she would have turned around and headed home, but her curiosity was peaked and the hairs standing up on the back of her neck had given her a little adrenaline rush to see what this was. She rummaged in her glove compartment for an old note pad and pen and then got out of the car. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, straightened her top and pulled her shoulders back. She could do this, she needed this, she needed something… different.

The walk up the driveway was very quiet, she looked towards the house for movement but the house looked quiet. No lights were on and she couldn't sense any movement. As she neared the front door though she saw the slightest twitch of the front window curtain.

As she arrived at the door she rang the bell and waited and after a long enough wait looked back towards that window and as she turned she saw the curtain twitch again and Lily raised a friendly hand to whoever it was. She then chose to knock on the door again and call out to perhaps reassure the person inside.

"Hello! This is Lily Evans, from the paper. I've come to talk to Mr Dawes about the…" Before she could finish the door flew open and Lily felt a hand fly out and grab her and pull her inside. She suddenly felt terror and she gasped as she was flung into the reception area of the small home. As she steadied herself she saw the person who had grabbed her was a small elderly man, he was at least a head shorter than her and he was dressed impeccably in a suit and tie. He didn't look very happy though and glared up at Lily.

"Are you stupid in the head girl?" He grumbled. "This isn't the time to be shouting in the streets." He carried a small walking stick and waved it in her direction to further display his annoyance.

"Sorry, I didn't… are you Mr Dawes?" She asked, she felt very confused and alarmed at her being pulled into a stranger's home.

"Yes, yes thats me. I'm Mr Dawes, Mr Frederick Dawes to be specific. You may call me Mr Dawes." He said very primly. His home was very modest but the way he dressed and behaved Lily felt like he was a very grand old gentleman.

"And you are?" He asked, his tone never changing from disgruntled. Lily immediately threw her hand to shake his.

"Lily, Lily Evans. From the newspaper. I believe you called about an incident. I don't have any more details so if you'd like to explain to me what you saw." Lily said still holding her hand out which he ignored so she pulled it back.

"Well nice to see someone listens to me. The local police laughed me out of the station." He said. He then turned and headed further into the house and Lily after a beat followed him. He led her into the back room which was a living room, it didn't contain much, just an old lounge chair and sofa and then wall to wall bookcases filled with books. Lily looked in awe at the collection and felt a memory of the first time she entered the Hogwarts library.

"You have an incredible collection of books Mr Dawes." Lily said as she tried to read some of the titles. She didn't recognise a lot and saw the majority related to astronomy or physics.

"Yes well in a past life I was a physics professor you see." He said. Lily expected him to sit down but instead he headed towards another door at the back of the room and he waved his hand as if for her to follow him. He opened the door which led to a staircase and he began to climb the stairs and obviously expected Lily to follow him.

"Mr Dawes, if perhaps you could explain what you saw so I can understand you story…" Lily called after him but he was quicker than he looked and was ascending the stairs quickly so she followed up after him. As she reached the top he said something,

"Better I show you so you actually believe me I think." He said. As Lily arrived upstairs and she first saw that the room was very open and light (a relief as she had expected a dark scary attic) and secondly she noticed a very impressive gold telescope in a prominent position by the window. He stood waiting for her by it and look impatient.

"What do you wish to show me?" Lily asked, she felt less uneasy now as he just seemed like a harmless old gentleman but she was still very confused about what he wanted to tell her.

"Well, as you can see from by collection I am an avid astronomer among many other things and as I'm sure you know last week was the Blood Supermoon." He said very matter of factly. Lily nodded and scribbled down the detail about the moon as she listened.

"I was watching for the eclipse to begin and as it began I noticed a bright light on the ground in the corner or my eye." He gestured out of the window and Lily looked out. Him home backed onto fields and she couldn't see much out there other than fields and the occasional tree.

"What was it you saw?" She asked. He looked cross that she wasn't more excited about his story but he carried on.

"My telescope was positionist perfectly at the sky to see the eclipse but his bright light kept catching my eye so I looked across the fields and saw a tiny glimpse of light. I may be old but my eyesight is sharp as a knife." He said proudly. "I repositioned the telescope to look at the light and what I saw was… concerning. I am still not sure how to rationalise it but I will describe it the best I can." He said looking slightly uneasy now for the first time. Lily looked at him and saw the slightest glimpse of fear in his eyes as he recounted the events.

"I looked across the fields and I've been aware of this derelict farmhouse there for years. It's been empty since 1957 when the farmer, Murray, died you see. I've lived in this house for 54 years you know. I could see this green glimmer though around the house, like a green sparkling dome surrounding the house and as I looked further it grew brighter and then a sharp flash and the dome started to disappeared. Then the house changed, well, it appeared to be less derelict than I had previously thought. It's like it flashed from old and dilapidated, unlivable, to back to its old state. But quicker than I saw say bang the house blew apart and half the front wall blew off and then even quicker I saw three people in black cloaks run in, drag out a fourth person and then they all disappeared in a blink." He finished the story and waited expectantly for Lily's response. She had been scribbling away the details as he told them and as she finished the last note she took a breath and felt that same tingle of hairs standing up on the back of her neck.

"Did you say they were wearing cloaks?" She asked quietly. She didn't want to overreact and show anything was wrong but alarm bells but ringing in her head so loud she felt faint.

"Yes, long cloaks and their faces were obscured by masks." He said again, very matter of factly but a quiver in his voice showed he was disturbed by the event.

"You saw they were wearing masks, from here?" Lily asked looked out of the window, she didn't wear glasses and she couldn't even see a farm house. He huffed at her question and gestured to his telescope.

"If you will Miss Evans." He said wiping the eye piece with a handkerchief he had pulled from his pocket. She walked forwards and leant forward to peer into the telescope. As soon as she did she blinked to find focus but as she did house became clear in the distance. She could barely even call it that anymore though, she could clearly see the front of the house was gone and every window was smashed and the front door was about 20 feet away from the structure.

"The house burned?" She asked, her voice breathless.

"Yes, once the cloaked, well I assumed men as they were large, disappeared the house burst into flames. When I told the local police they said they're already been out then and that local kids had burned the place down for fun. I was laughed out of the station." He said with disdain.

"I noticed after I visited the station though I felt like I was being followed so I left my enquiry. But I just couldn't…" He paused, he seemed to lean harder onto his walking stick as he felt a little unsteady. Lily gestured for him to sit and he waved her of.

"I'm fine." He said, although the scared look he had as he glanced back towards the house was reason for Lily to believe this had really shaken this man. A man she could tell just from this short time, was not easily shaken.

"So that's my story. I don't want my name in the paper and I don't want any money. I just want someone to… well someone to believe me." He said earnestly. He straightened his perfect tie uncomfortably and waited for Lily to speak.

"Mr Dawes that is quite a story." She said at first scratching her head, feeling perplexed. He frowned and looked annoyed.

"If you don't believe me then don't waste my time." He said gesturing for the door. Lily turned to look at the door and was ready to get out of there but then she turned back to look at him.

"I believe you." She said and she could visibly see his relief.

"You do?" He asked.

"Yes I do, now I have a few questions…" She said turning over a fresh page of her notepad.

"I almost thought I was crazy at first." He said. "I've got two PHDs and a doctorate so I am hardly a foolish man. I am a man of science not of imagination. I couldn't have made this up myself if I tried." He said finally taking a seat next to the telescope. Lily took another nearby seat and she asked her questions.

They sat and she got more details about the event from him for the next half an hour. He was certain about the details of the dome of light and he also gave extra detail to say the cloaked men's masks were silver. The most disturbing details came with the description of the man he saw taken from the home. Mr Dawes described the man as in his late 40s, he wore long blue robes similar to his kidnappers but without the hood up. He said he had a distinctive mark on his face, a large purple blotch on his cheek that could have been a birth mark. He had what Mr Dawes described as a look of extreme terror on his face just before he disappeared.

"He looked like he was screaming, I obviously couldn't hear but I could just tell he was screaming at the top of his lungs in fear. His face was red and his eyes crazy. It haunts me." He said solemnly.

"Mr Dawes, Can I ask you one last question before I go?" Lily said looking at him.

"Why did you call the paper? I'm not sure how we can help if the police don't take this seriously." Lily said.

"I had to do something. A man is in danger." He said with an air of surprise at the question. "A man's character is built around his actions and if I do nothing I will be a coward." Lily nodded.

The whole conversation had made her feel the chill of old memories. The event he described undeniably interlinked with her old magical world, a world she had left behind. A hunger in her stomach to find out more now ravaged her body but she also felt the pull of safety, of her easy, boring life.

"Thank you for your time Mr Dawes, your story is very disturbing and I need to get my head around it. I suggest you keep the details of this event to yourself and I'll have a dig around to see if anything comes of it." Lily said standing and again offering her hand out to him.

"You must find the culprit!" He said passionately jumping out of his chair and again ignoring her hand.

"I'm not a police woman Mr Dawes. I report on the news. I'll check and see if there's been any missing reports though and see if there's anything…" She didn't get to finish as he waved his hand and dismissed her words.

"You clearly don't have what it takes to be an investigative reporter Miss Evans. This needs an in depth investigation. Something very dark is afoot!" He exclaimed waving his walking stick again. She didn't know what to say so she just nodded and then he led her back to the front door and gave her a very curt goodbye. She left him with her home phone number as a parting gift and told him to call her if anything else came to mind. She secretly hoped he wouldn't call though as she wanted to forget this whole event.

Lily walked back to her car and got in, before she started the engine she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She couldn't believe the story he had told, it sounded crazy, but Lily knew that the description he gave matched up with the wizarding world. The breaking of the concealment charm, the cloaks the assailants wore and their instant disappearance was obviously them apparating. The parallels were obvious but yet she still felt like going home and hiding until she forget all about it.

The old Lily would never have been this cowardly but she was not the same person as she was. The ten years since Hogwarts had taken its toll on her character and she simply wanted a quiet, unspectacular life. This event sounded like something that would take her in the wrong direction completely. She reached into pocket and pulled out the piece of paper Gina had given her. She looked one more time and then crumpled the paper up and threw it to the footwell of the passenger seat.


	2. A Snake

Lily continued her week as she normally did, she pottered around the house, she did some gardening as her mother had always maintained the garden to perfection before her illness and Lily felt a responsibility to do the same.

She was given another article to write from the paper, this time it was on the local garden centre and how they were disposing of waste manure illegally. She hadn't slept well since her meeting with Mr Dawes so she sat awake late one evening at her desk trying to finish off the dreary article.

She hadn't mentioned the details of the meeting to anyone since that day, Gina had asked her what had happened and she said the old man was crazy and she had nothing to report. Gina had raised an eyebrow as if to argue but shrugged and continued on with her work, typing away with her latest shade of purple on her nails.

Lily chewed the end of her pen and stared out of the window five days later, it was dark outside and she felt a little uneasy, an irrational childhood fear. She knew nothing was out there but she always felt like the dark was hiding something, in the shadows. She scribbled a few quotes she'd gotten from customers of the garden centre and just as she was finishing it off she jumped as the phone next to her desk rang out and broke the silence.

She rarely got calls so assumed it was either an insurance salesman or her sister. She would prepare the salesman so she crossed her fingers.

"Hello," She said as she answered. She didn't get an immediate response, it sounded like someone was there though, there was heavy breath on the other line. An uneasy feeling went through Lily and she repeated her greeting. She heard a slight cough and then he spoke.

"Miss Evans, it's Mr Dawes." He finally choked out, he sounded very out of breath and could barely say those few short terms.

"Mr Dawes - are you okay? It's very late to be calling." She said glancing over at the clock and she could see it was 11.30pm. He seemed to still be catching his breath so she waited while he worked up to another sentence.

"I've just been to the house Miss Evans. I need to speak with you urgently." He said. Lily froze, she knew immediately what he was talking about but she repressed that and responded.

"What do you mean Mr Dawes, the house across the fields from you?" She asked. He huffed down the phone.

"Yes! The house - the house! I didn't hear from you and I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. I drove round to the house to look and I just got back, the house… the house…" He gasped.

"You went to the house this evening? You really shouldn't do that Mr Dawes. It isn't safe." She said. He strained for air but she could almost feel his anxiety down the phone.

"I drove down the lane to the farm house, it's much worse up close." He said ignoring her worry for him going to the destroyed house. "Totally destroyed! I looked inside and the house was burned to a crisp, nothing left. Not a teaspoon left."

"Mr Dawes you really shouldn't have gone there. The house could be dangerous, it could have collapsed on you." Lily said trying to stay calm, this old man's tenacity to investigate this creepy event made her feel scared and exhilarated which was an alien feeling to her in her current mundane life.

"I needed to tell you, to tell someone," He gasped. "Above the house, I couldn't see it through my telescope. It was floating above the house. A green skull, a green human skull…. with a snake coming out of its mouth." He finally gasped out the last words and the fear in his words were undeniable. Lily froze and didn't say anything at this. The line went quiet, the only sound was Mr Dawes breathing.

"Miss Evans - have you nothing to say?" He asked. She actually didn't have anything to say.

"A snake," Was all she could manage.

"Yes a snake! In all my years in science I've never seen something like it - it was like a hologram but it was alive. I need you to come and see it with me!" He said.

"What, now?" She exclaimed.

"Yes Miss Evans - of course now!" He barked. She knew this was ridiculous and although the chill down her back was undeniable she knew she wasn't going to an abandoned farmhouse in the middle of the night with an eccentric old man.

"I don't think that's possible Mr Dawes. It's not safe - perhaps you should try calling the police again." Lily said trying to maintain professionalism.

"The police! Like they'll believe me. You need to come now!" He said with more urgency.

"No, I definitely can't do that Mr Dawes. I really can't." She said more firmly. He sighed resigned.

"Will you come tomorrow?" He asked. She didn't respond but something in her led her to say "Yes." He then accepted this and gave a short goodbye and hung up the phone.

She leaned back in her desk chair and ran her hands over her face, her heart pounded. A snake, anything related to a snake in the wizarding world spelled trouble. Her old friend, he had had an obsession with snakes, the emblem of his school house. It was a symbol that represented a long history of evil in the wizarding world and Lily knew the history well, she had read the history books back to back. She may have left the wizarding world but her mind still remembered everything she had learned in her years at Hogwarts.

She left her article unfinished and instead went to go and shower and get into bed. She knew deep down there was no sleeping tonight but she wanted to pretend that life was normal. She knew deep down though that life was shaken from normality.

She lay her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. But as her eyes shut all she could picture was the description of the snake and skull. She had a vivid memory of something she read once, she knew she had to look into it. She jumped out of bed and threw the light on before heading downstairs. There was an old closet in the hallway and inside was her trunk. She pulled the trunk out and dragged it into the lounge. She opened it and her old books and school items fell out. She rummaged around for the book she was looking for and finally came across the old copy of Hogwarts a History which she had poured over at school. The copy was well worn as she had reread it so many times during her school years.

She flung the book over and flicked through the pages until she came to the page she needed.

" _Salazar Slytherin, Hogwarts Founder_ "

She skimmed through the lengthy section of one of the school original founders. She flicked through the pages until she came to the illustration on the last page of his section. It was an ancient drawing of the crest of Salazar Slytherin. It was similar to the one use at Hogwarts but the one difference was the snake whose mouth was wide and threatening in the illustration had an unusual extra detail in which the tongue protruding from its mouth was another snake. It wasn't much but it had immediately come to mind when Mr Dawes had referenced the snake protruding from the skulls mouth and the green colour.

She sat and read the rest of the chapter, and she felt a slight emotion of sadness at her distance from the magical world. Her world couldn't be further from Hogwarts and all it had taught her in her formative years. She finished the chapter and slammed the book shut and looked at her trunk, filled with books she had once loved. She was about to close it up and throw it into the cupboard but instead she tidied it up and went to bed with the decision made to visit Mr Dawes first thing the next morning.

She woke up with a renewed energy she hadn't felt in such a long time. She dressed quickly and drove her car over to Mr Dawes house ready to take him over to that house, in the light of day, and investigate his claims once and for all. Before she had left the house she did something she hadn't done in a long time, she grabbed her wand from the stand in the hallway and stuck it in her sleeve to conceal it.

As she turned the corner onto Capersworth drive she knew something was wrong. The usually quiet street was buzzing with people, a police car and to Lily's horror an ambulance. Her breath caught in her throat and she parked up quickly and ran to the front of the house where she arrived just in time to see a body come out on a stretcher with a blanket covering it. She cried out in shock and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my god." Lily called out, she suddenly felt panicked and couldn't breath. All the details of her conversations with Mr Dawes flying through her head at a mile an hour as the realisation that Mr Dawes was under that blanket.

"Excuse me miss did you know him?" A constable in uniform asked her as she shook and stared at the body being loaded onto the ambulance.

"What happened?" Lily said, her voice so strained as she held back tears.

"Did you know Mr Dawes miss." The policeman asked again. Lily nodded and raked her hands through her hair.

"I'm just a… friend." She finally got out as she felt the need to hide her real relationship with Mr Dawes at this moment. "What happened?" She asked, the policeman.

"Sorry for your loss miss. It seems that Mr Dawes was found early this morning when his neighbour was passing by and noticed the front door was left wide open. Upon inspection Mr Dawes was found face down in his living room. It appears at the moment to be a heart attack but the hospital will be able to tell you more if you wish to go. I'm again very sorry for your loss." He asked in a sympathetic tone.

Lily took all the information in and tried to compute it in her head. He was an old man, its very possible the stress caused him to have a heart attack. She couldn't have prevented a heart attack. It's not her fault.

"I only spoke to him last night and he seemed fine," She said trying to calm down and sound like a normal grieving friend. "Was there… anything else? Anything unusual about him? I can't believe this has happened he seemed in fine health." She added.

"Well the house did appear to be in a bit of disarray but it looks like he may have taken down a book shelf with him as he fell perhaps. Nothing appears stolen so we're not treating it as suspicious at the moment. Unless you wish you make a statement Miss…?" He asked.

"Sarah," She blurted out. "Sarah Chapman." She didn't know why she lied it just came over her suddenly.

"Miss Chapman would you mind waiting over there while we get the ambulance away?" He asked politely. She nodded and moved further up the driveway to stand near the door. The ambulance was trying to move away but so many nosey neighbours had come out to look that the policeman had to usher people back into their homes.

Lily stood holding herself, she felt an icy cold feeling in her bones like something really terrible had happened. She knew deep down this was suspicious, the whole situation Mr Dawes had seen was awful and because she hadn't acted, scared to leave her little bubble he was now dead. She began to shake and still tried to hold back tears, she wiped her eyes and blinked furiously to stop the flow of tears but she couldn't help it. The whole situation was crazy and watching the ambulance pull away brought back memories of her Mum's passing which Lily tried very hard to repress.

The tears started to leak down her face and suddenly she felt short of breath and faint. She rocked slightly as she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself and then as she managed to slow the flow of tears a voice spoke to her.

"Excuse me miss are you okay?" She asked. The voice belonged to an older woman and her voice sounded very comforting. Lily wiped her eyes and looked up and saw the woman was about mid 50s maybe but very attractive with long dark unruly hair. Her clothes were very old fashioned corporate wear and seemed a bit out of place for the late 70s but Lily couldn't help but see something familiar in her eyes.

"I'm… I'm fine." She said taking a deep breath and trying to slow her breathing. She hadn't cried since her mother's funeral and it felt very draining to reignite that emotion.

"I'm sorry to disturb you during this emotional time. We're just here to investigate the situation." She said smiling kindly again. Lily looked around for the policeman and he was talking to someone with his back to Lily.

"I'm Freya, and you are?" She asked. Lily looked at the policeman and back at the woman who didn't seem to be with the police.

"Are you with the police?" Lily asked.

"Yes, we're in investigation." She said. Lily looked at her again and realised her clothes were old fashioned but the strange feature which really stood out was the light cloak she had draped over her shoulders. She looked further and saw the outline of a long thin object in the cloak pocket which Lily recognised immediately.

"Wait are you... " Lily lowered her voice, "with the ministry?" Freya's eyebrows shot up in surprise and raised her voice slightly louder than was normal conversation volume.

"Right well if you could just show me inside Miss." She said before guiding Lily into the house. Lily didn't feel uneasy with this woman but she did feel confused.

"Miss I'm going to have to ask you to confirm your identification." Freya said, still friendly but with a firmer tone than previous. Lily could tell this woman was more switched on than just a friendly investigator.

"Why is the ministry of magic investigating a muggle death?" Lily asked instead. The questions running through her mind were buzzing so quickly she felt sick again.

"I can't tell you anything until I know your name and your connection to this situation." Freya said seriously. Lily took a deep breath. She'd already lied to the muggle policeman but there was no point lying to the ministry of magic. They had slightly more resources for detecting the truth.

"Lily Evans. I'm a friend, acquaintance really of Mr Dawes. I work for a local muggle paper and we'd been discussing an event which took place near here." She said. The woman's eyebrows raised again as if in recognition. She didn't say anything in regards to it though and simply stated.

"Okay Miss Evans. We're with the ministry, auror department. We're just here as a precaution as there's been some… activity in the area and this is situation we want to monitor. Mr Dawes death is not currently being treated as suspicious but if you have any information regarding his death I'd appreciate your cooperation." Freya continued very professionally.

Lily took a deep breath to explain her involvement and as she thought about the last week and listening to Mr Dawes story then ignoring him for days then his phone call and now his death. She began to hyperventilate again and her breathing became short shallow breaths and she felt dizzy suddenly. As she began to sway Freya called out to someone behind Lily and a hand shot out and grabbed Lily's arm and another grabbed her under her other arm as she was led to a nearby seat. She tried to steady her breathing as she sat there with her head in her hands.

She finally came to focus and she could hear Freya instructing the man she was with on how to proceed. They were stood close by Lily in case she toppled again but in hushed tones. She could pick up the odd word but as she heard the familiar voice respond she looked up in shock.

"Potter!" She said suddenly. It came out almost as a weird noise and not a real word. Both heads turned to her and they stared down at her surprised.


	3. Trust

"James Potter," She said again as if reaffirming it to herself. Before her stood all 6 foot of James Potter, although ten years old not much had changed in his appearance since their school days. His glasses remained in placed and his messy black hair was an unruly as it always was.

"Lily," James said in response. His tone didn't let much of his feeling go but his face looked concerned.

"Lily," Freya began taking the lead as Lily and James seemed to be struggling with their communication skills. "I believe you know my son James who I believe you went to school with." She confirmed this detail, although it was needless as both knew the other.

"Lily, she continued. "I think you're in shock but James and I are investigating this incident, shall we say, off the books. So it would be great if we could perhaps take you home, get you a cup of tea, and discuss what's happened here and see if you know any details that might help the situation. Would that be okay with you?" Freya continued, her clear calming voice a welcome change to the flurry of thought whirring through Lily's head.

Lily couldn't help but stare up at James instead of responding to Freya. A figure from her Hogwarts years, a very memorable one too, seemed like such an alien sight to Lily's current life. She blinked and tried to behave normally for a second and respond to Freya.

"Yes, yes we can go to my house it's nearby. I have my car here though." She said. She noticed James looked surprised by this, perhaps she thought, because Lily was a witch and didn't apparate anymore. She managed to get to her feet and felt steadier than before. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys as if to reaffirm her car situation.

James nodded and reached for the keys.

"I'll drive." He said curtly. Freya led the way and James walked alongside Lily in silence, closely enough to grab her if she toppled again. As she walked out the house towards her car she noticed all the neighbours had departed and the policeman was gone. So quickly they move on with their lives but Lily felt forever shook by the morning's events.

She walked to wards her car and James opened the front passenger door for her, a gesture she greeted with surprise. Ten years had passed since school but chivalry was not a quality she thought James Potter possessed. Freya hopped into the back seat of the car casually and sat with a serious look on her face. She was a very beautiful woman and Lily now saw as she peered in the reverse mirror what she recognised in her and it was her warm blue eyes, which James also had.

James hopped into the driver's seat very confidently and pushed the key into the ignition. Lily watched in surprise as she knew James came from a pureblood family and therefore would never had been raised around muggle cars. He quickly had the car in gear and looped round and up to the junction, Lily still watching his every move.

"I learned to drive the summer before we finished school." He said suddenly as if reading Lily's mind. "I had a fascination with muggle transport and thought learning might impress people at school." Lily nodded, James' Mum chuckled lightly in the back at his comment and he scowled but stayed silent.

"Take a left here." She said quietly and he followed her instruction and carefully cruised down the street towards her house. As they pulled up outside she felt suddenly self conscious of her house. It wasn't anything special and she was aware that James came from a very wealthy wizarding family.

"It's not much." She said shyly as she got out of the car. Freya smiled up at the house and looked at Lily warmly.

"It's lovely - your garden is so beautiful." She said fondly looking down at the garden which Lily maintained in her mother's memory. Lily managed a smile at this, it had been a long time since anyone had admired the garden and it felt nice to share it.

"Shall we go inside?" Freya asked politely and Lily jumped to attention and walked up the pathway. The Potters following behind her at a polite distance while she got her keys out and opened the door. She ushered them in and looked around quickly to check the house was tidy and of course it was pristine.

They walked towards the back of the house and into the kitchen. Lily felt more like herself now back in her safe space and pottered around putting the kettle on and getting cups out of the cupboard.

"Please sit," She said. They both nodded and sat at the kitchen table. Both of them were watching her and she felt nervous but relieved to not be alone after this morning's event. If she'd been given one thousand outcomes to today having two Potters sat in her kitchen wouldn't even have made the list.

Lily made quick work of the teas and carried the three cups over to the table and then sat down with them. They both uttered their thanks and James picked up his and blew on the water to cool it quicker.

"Lily," Freya began, finally breaking the quiet. "We really need to know everything you know about this situation. It's been a dangerous few years and this could be a huge breakthrough." Lily nodded and took a sip of the tea but it was too hot still.

"I really don't know much. I work at a local muggle newspaper and I was given a tip to go and talk to Mr Dawes about 6 days ago." Lily began, the whole story spilled out and James and his mother listened intently taking in every details. When she finished the story, taking them right up until this moment Freya sighed and looked at James as they seemed to silently agree on something.

"Did Mr Dawes mention anything else about the man who was taken? Anything that might distinguish him?" James asked. Lily looked at him, he looked older, not in a bad way but she could see behind his glasses his eyes looked a little tired.

"Hold on I'll check my notes." Lily said, she grabbed her notepad off the counter where she had left it. She skimmed through it and mentioned a few details she'd missed.

"The man had a purple birthmark on his face!" She announced suddenly finding the note. James head shot up and he exclaimed "shit!" and leapt out of his seat followed by an apology. He raked his hand through his hair and paced the kitchen. Freya remained calmer but she still looked concerned about this piece of news.

"Please, you have to tell me more now. I've shared my story. You have to tell me something. I'm going crazy here." Lily said looking between the two. "Why are you here off the books? You mentioned dangerous years, what does that means? I've been… gone from that world for such a long time." James looked at Lily and then his mother and she nodded as if giving him permission to go ahead. He took a deep breath and then began.

"To begin, my mother and I are aurors. My mother being a senior auror. Since it must be what 9 years since you've been absence from wizarding news I'll try to catch you up as quickly as possible." He said, surprising Lily that he knew the exact time she'd been absent.

"The last 9 years has seen a slow increase of unexplained disappearances, attacks and even murders all stemming around muggle hate, pureblood mania and a political struggle going on so deep in the ministry that it's almost completely unknown to the outside world. The attacks are getting more and more frequent but they are covered up so quickly that no one is willing to admit what is obvious. We are at war." He took a breath and Lily stayed quiet to listen.

"We still work for the ministry but recently it's become clear that the ministry may be infiltrated by the enemy. I came across a file that wasn't meant to be seen by prying eyes and it lead me to this case. The house was reported as burning to the ground under suspicious circumstances, but it had no mention of any of the details you just gave us. So this could be a huge breakthrough for us." James said. Lily watched him speak and couldn't help but be surprised at how different he is, he speaks to intelligently and couldn't be further from the boy she knew at school.

"Who is the war against though?" Lily asked. Freya stepped in at this point.

"There is a man who has been building up followers, called death eaters, for over 20 years, no one dares speak his name as it's rumoured if you do you'll be next to face him but I fear no name. He goes by Lord Voldemort, an alias created to incite fear. The men you saw drag that other man away were his death eaters. They are ruthless and sick and will do anything their master desires." She said, the disdain in her voice clear. "The war is being fought under cover by those brave enough to do the extra and James and I are part of a resistance. I hope I can trust you with this information Lily." Freya added seriously.

"Why do you trust me?" Lily asked surprised that Freya would share this with her.

"I've heard good things about you Lily Evans." Freya added with a smile. James twitched his head from his standing position and Lily caught him looking at her with wide eyes of someone who wishes the conversation to change. Freya smiled and stood excusing herself to use the bathroom.

Left alone, Lily sat and James stood in awkward silence. James looked out the window into Lily's garden and Lily sipped her tea. Surprisingly James broke the silence whilst still looking outside.

"Why did you disappear Lily?" He asked. "Last I heard you were top of the class at healer school." He said turning to look at her. She raised her eyebrows at the question and paused before answering, the truth sounded so pathetic but there was no point in lying.

"My mother became ill and I had to care for her." Lily said taking another sip of her tea.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He said immediately. "How is she now?" She looked away trying not to get upset, the thought of her mother's passing still bringing tears to her eyes.

"She passed away two years ago." She said as matter of factly as possible. James looked at her even more intently now.

"Two years ago?" He asked, a surprising response Lily thought, considering most people immediately wanted to give condolences.

"Sorry," He added onto the end and running his hand through his hair as he obviously felt uncomfortable. "What I meant to say is that I'm so sorry to hear about your mother's passing. But I also wonder why you didn't rejoin healer training? Two years is a long time to waste your potential." He said seriously. She felt uncomfortable under his gaze and felt a little blush rise to her cheeks at his compliment of her ability. She prepared to say something about not being ready or how she had a job at the paper but Freya walked back in and saved her the trouble.

"Thank you for the tea Lily. I just wanted to discuss with you Mr Dawes and then we should be going." Freya said and Lily felt her chest tighten at the mention of mr Dawes. "With your information about Mr Dawes and what he saw plus his visit to the house last night I think we can assume that his death isn't a coincidence. The house was most likely being watched as we believe what they were looking for hasn't been found yet so when he went back to visit the house he was likely followed home. I can't tell you more than that but it brings me to my next point. Your involvement in this situation and you living so close by makes me think that you may no longer be safe in this house by yourself. Do you have anyone that you might stay with out of town for a little while until this blows over?" She asked kindly. Lily knew straight away there was no one, her sister couldn't be involved in anything magical related and would be horrified with a surprised visit from her freak sister. Other than that there wasn't anyone else she could rely on.

"No there isn't, I'm sure I'll be fine here. I can look up some protection charms for the house." Lily said pulling out her wand which she'd forgotten was safely tucked up her sleeve. James looked almost annoyed at her suggestion and crossed his arms.

"What about a friend from school? Alice or Emmeline?" James asked not willing to let this go.

"I don't keep in touch with anyone from school." Lily said curtly.

"Well you can't stay here." he said firmly from his standing point in the kitchen. The authoritarian tone in his voice seemed to rise something out of Lily and she stood and firmly said.

"This is my house and I shall not be forced out by anyone!" She said a little too passionately for such a small group. Freya sighed but nodded resignedly.

"James I need to go, I have a meeting at the ministry. Will you stay and help Lily charm the house?" She asked, he nodded and Freya bid Lily goodbye and promised to see her again soon. She then popped out to the garden to apparate from behind Lily's garden shed.

"You really shouldn't stay here alone Lily." He said more calmly than his earlier order. His eyes looked earnest so she didn't snap but she remained strong to her decision.

"I have no where else to go. I won't be chased out of my house, especially if it's not even certain I'm in danger." She said. James changed the subject and started firing protection charms around the home.

"You should do some yourself, charms made by the inhabitant are always stronger." James said as he charmed all the exits.

"I know, I remember." She said, it may have been a long time since she used magic but she still remembered everything. Her years of studying were stuck in her head. She took her wand and waved it around her head in a swift sweep and then down and whispered the charm for home protection from intruders. She felt a rush of energy flow through her, something she hadn't felt in so long so almost bit back a tear of remembrance. She bit her lip though and concentrated on the spell until it was complete.

Once finished she realised James was watching her and she felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. She placed her wand back down on the kitchen table as if to end the fun.

"Thank you for your help." She said politely.

"Do you have an owl?" He asked randomly. She shook her head at the question confused.

"I'm just wondering how you can get in touch if you need anything. I know, I'll send you one of our owls to use and if you see anything weird, or just… want to talk. You can owl me… or my Mum, whenever." He said, his face seemed to flush a little as he blustered through the sentence.

"Thanks James. You don't need to do that though." She said and he blinked at her calling him his first name.

"No it's fine. It's better this way. I'll send you the owl later today. Right I better go then." He said turning to go. As he was about to turn and head out of the door he turned back to Lily and quickly said, "It was good to see you Lily." Before he turned and left out the back door to apparate away as his mother did.


	4. Intruders

Lily was left in her kitchen to sit and take in all the perplexing events on her day. Her life had been so ordinary, boring and uneventful for almost a decade and within a week she had had her world turned upside down. She was so sad her brief acquaintance Mr Dawes was gone, an eccentric man but she had wished no harm to him. She hoped he was at peace now and she tried not to dwell on what was out of her control. She had spent too many years dwelling on her mother's health and then death and she didn't want to go back down that rabbit hole of depression.

The day was almost gone, the sun slowly sinking in the sky so she decided to take a bath and relax. She ran the tap on the bath and poured some of her favourite bath scent into the tub just as she was about to strip she jumped out of her skin at a noise at her bathroom window.

The tapping continued until she opened the curtains and she saw an owl flapping outside of her window. A familiar sight in the wizarding world but something Lily hadn't seen in such a long time. She quickly opened the window and the owl hopped into her bathroom and quickly found a safe perch on the towel rack on the wall. She admired its beautiful golden eyes, gryffindor gold she remembered, and its soft brown feathers. The bird seemed to have a good temperament and let her stroke its back and it affectionately nibbled at her finger before reaching out its leg and offering her the note attached. She took the piece of rolled up parchment and saw a wax seal, the Potter seal, on the parchment. She felt a nervous edge whilst opening it which felt strange, she had expected this message as he had told her about it earlier in the day.

The read:

" _Lily,_

 _I hope you are well and safe at home. This owl is Morgan and she is yours now. Hopefully she will help you keep in touch with the wizarding world, as we certainly need good people like you in these troublesome times._

 _Hopefully you won't mind me checking in from time to time to make sure you are safe._

 _All the best,_

 _James Potter"_

She smiled at the formality of his letter. She rolled the parchment back up and placed it on her bathroom counter. She mentally reminded herself to write back and thank you note in the morning once Morgan had rested. She has her own owl, her first ever pet, which was a novel change.

Lily spent the next few days a little on edge, she had a foreboding feeling of being alone in the house but she refused to let herself get psyched out. She had lived in solitude for a long time and she couldn't let fear change her. She did however have the enjoyment of a new back and forth communication with James Potter which seemed like such an alien thing to occur Lily could hardly believe it whenever Morgan returned with another message. They messages had stayed formal and polite and simply checked in with Lily but she enjoyed them and looked forward to the tapping of the owl on the window.

In addition to her new pen pal pastime Lily also had the slight feeling of being watched. She couldn't put her finger on it but whenever she left the house to run an errand or pop into the office she always felt like someone was behind her but when she looked there was never anyone there.

She finished her article on the garden centre and Herbertson was pleased with the result. Lily was in the office typing up some other smaller article Herbertson had asked her to do a bit of extra editing on when she heard Gina call her name from across the office. It was a relatively quiet day as a lot of the office was out covering the fair, an annual highlight for the town.

Lily finished off typing the last word she was writing then she walked over to see what Gina wanted. Herbertson's door was closed and although she couldn't hear him she could see him giving someone a really hard time on the phone.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Hey honey. How are you doing?" Gina asked sweetly as she filed her long talon like nails, today a tropical orange.

"I'm okay." Lily said shortly, she wasn't very good at chit chat.

"Look honey," Gina said, her usually sunny disposition dropping. She looked around the office and the only other person was a young temp organising stationery on the other side of the office. "I need to talk to you about… the thing I gave you to look into last week." She said matter of factly. Lily blinked and realised she was referencing Mr Dawes.

"Oh I… I see. What did you want to talk about?" Lily asked again.

"Look, I don't know how to say this, but…" She looked around again then Gina looked Lily dead in her eye, she even tilted her rhinestone glasses down her nose and quietly but clearly said, "Honey, I'm a squib, or I prefer magically challenged, and on occasion I work with a few special people in a little collective to help out on some projects, but I won't bore you with that. Basically I'm in a little trouble with them as I gave you the tip off about crazy old Dawes and I just wanted to apologise. I had no idea that this Dawes thing was actually the real deal, I just thought it might have a local crime relating to some kids vandalising. I thought it might be a bit more interesting for you! I had no idea you were… a witch and I had NO idea this guy's story was legit. I hope you'll forgive me honey." Gina said earnestly and she wait for Lily to say something.

"Gina… I don't know what to say. It's certainly not your fault what happened and as you can see I'm fine so no need to worry about it. I had no idea that you were… magically challenged. But you don't need to apologise. You did nothing wrong except trying to get me out of my funk and to do something more exciting. All good." Lily said finally smiling, Gina return her a relieved smile.

"Thanks sweetheart. I have to say that young gentleman certainly was cross to see you put in harm's way. He must have a soft spot for you." She said winking at Lily who realised she must mean James and she blushed slightly realising her implication.

Lily returned quickly to her desk a little shocked at the revelations Gina had just given her. Gina had mentioned working with a little collective, she wondered if she was referring to the resistance the Potter's had mentioned. That would make sense as they knew Gina had told her about the tip and James had in turn obviously come and told off Gina for her part in getting Lily involved. A over reaction in Lily's eyes as Gina had hardly meant to put Lily in harm's way and it left her with a bubble of annoyance in her stomach which grew as the day went on. So upon returning home she quickly scribbled a short but curt message to James:

 _James,_

 _I don't need you jumping in and attacking my colleagues for just doing their jobs. I'm very happy to protect myself and Gina did nothing wrong. Don't step in where you're not needed._

 _Regards,_

 _Lily Evans_

After sending the message she felt like it had been a slight over reaction, especially when no response came that evening or the next couple of days. She missed her pen pal and cursed herself for her temper.

She tried to keep busy throughout the week by reading a new book, researching a new article for the paper and pottering around the house but she felt uneasy. The night air felt cooler one evening so she put another jumper on and an extra pair of socks to stay warm.

Her room was small and cosy but she had always felt uncomfortable moving into her mother's room after her passing so it remained the same and Lily stayed put. Her favourite feature of her room was a window overlooking the garden which had a seat in the alcove when she could snuggle up with some pillows and a blanket and lose herself in a book.

She hadn't done it in a long time but she reached into her old trunk and chose one of her old Hogwarts charms books to read through. The charms on the house had been fun but also showed her that she was a little rustier than she liked to admit on some of the spells she used to excel in. She sat in her window and waved her wands gently around as she tried to charm a candle on her small bedroom side table to light then the candle flame to change colour. A little charm she had made up as a 4th year student.

She smiled when it flickered from yellow to green to blue to red. She then had a memory of creating the spell and it brought back a flickering memory of her friend Severus and her spending hours pouring over books in the library and creating spells and potions of their own. It was their own secret club and they had created some amazing things but much like their friendship they were now gone.

Lily went to bed that night with a sad feeling in her heart remembering those times and drifted into an uneasy sleep. She dreamt of running through a forest and someone was chasing her and everytime she looked over he shoulder they were hidden behind a tree. She ran and ran and she felt like she was about to get caught and just as she felt something grab her arm she tripped in her dream and as she fell to the ground she realised the shaking she felt wasn't from hitting the ground but from someone shaking her.

"Lily," The voice said to her in the dark. She gasped and a hand shot out over her mouth and muffled her cry. She felt immediate panic and blinked and tried to adjust to the dark so she could see who was in her room holding her down.

"Lily, it's James. Don't panic please or scream." James said, Lily should have relaxed but she couldn't stop her body from tensing with his hand over her mouth. Her eyes finally adjusted to the dark and she could see his panicked look in his eyes. He leaned in closer to her and she could smell his musky scent the faint smell of soap. He whispered in her ear, "There's someone in the house. Someone dangerous."

He took his hand away from her mouth and waited a second to make sure she wouldn't scream then quietly stood fully up and creeped round to stand behind the door of her bedroom. He gestured at her and then to the wardrobe in the corner of the room and he waved for her to hurry. She understood and quickly jumped up, grabbing her wand from her side table and quickly slipping into the wardrobe to hide. He stood so still behind the door and Lily finally heard the gentle footsteps coming up the stairs in her house. The footsteps were obviously creeping but they were also heavy like that of a man's boot, hardly a subtle break in.

Lily held her breath as the steps got closer to her room, James held his wand aloft as he prepared for the intruder to come in. The doorknob turned and shook and then creaked open inch by inch. Just as the door was almost full open James jumped out from his hiding spot and sent a flurry of stunning spells directly at the assailant.

Lily heard a brief yell of pain, quickly followed by thud of the body dropping to the floor. Lily sighed in relief and just as she thought it was over there was suddenly a big bang downstairs and she realised this man wasn't the only person breaking into her house that night. A shout came from downstairs and then it sounded like two more people were running up the stairs.

James jumped into action and ran to the closet and grabbed Lily. He then ran over to her alcove window and swung the window open as far as it would go.

"Lily you're going to have to trust me okay. Grab my hand and get on the ledge quickly," James said. Lily looked at him like he was mad the the steps were almost with them so she quickly did it then just as the steps reached her door he grabbed her hand so tightly then pushed them both out of the window at the same time at the door blasted off its hinges.

Lily turned a split second after she jumped and spotted two men with silver masks running to the window but before they could reach it then were falling from a first floor window about to hit the floor and then suddenly Lily felt as if someone had hooked her navel and was dragging her through a wind tunnel. She was being flung erratically around and then suddenly she was flung from the tunnel and landed with a heavy thud on a hard surface which was the last thing she remembered before she passed out.


	5. James' Humble Abode

Lily felt groggy when she came round like she'd been asleep for a long time but in reality she'd been unconscious for a few moments. She woke up to a panicked James calling her name and trying to wake her with a gentle shake, his voice laden with worry.

"Lily, Lily wake up!" He called and when he saw her slowly open her eyes he sighed in relief and sat back next to her.

"Thank Merlin." He said sighing and running his hand through his mess of black hair. She slowly tried to sit and he jumped to action and helped gently pull her upright. His hands on her lower back and arm made her suddenly aware that she was wearing her pyjamas shorts and vest and nothing else. She quickly covered her chest and felt self conscious and a little cold. He noticed her movement and quickly removed her jumper and handed it to her to put on. She pulled it on and felt warm comfort and once again got an upclose smell of James Potter.

She steadied herself and then looked at her surroundings. It looked like a strange little garden or patio, like that of an inner city terraced house. All concrete, surrounded by high walls and with very little greenery in it.

"Where are we James?" She asked. James looked around and got up then offered her a hand to put her up off the ground. Lily took his hand and noticed upon standing a dull ache on her knee and looked down to see a fairly bad graze with blood dripping down her leg.

"We're at my house. Let's get you inside and get that knee sorted out." He said directing her towards a small back door at the house which this small garden obviously belonged to.

She walked inside and saw a welcoming kitchen inside an old fashioned home, a little fire was crackling in the fireplace and the kitchen smelled homely like freshly baked bread. James closed the door behind them and then turned to her, he almost looked nervous even though this was his home and she was the intruder.

"Take a seat at the table," James said and she hobbled over to the table, her knee throbbing more and more the longer she stood. She sat at the four seater kitchen table in James Potter's modest kitchen and looked around confused.

"I thought you had a bit family estate in the country." She asked, suddenly realising how rude that sounded and blushing. James noticed her blush but smiled regardless as he wet a cloth in the sink.

"My family do yes, but I live here now. The house was a bit too big for just my mum and I so she moved into an apartment we had in the city and I moved into this place with some friends. It's pretty simple but I like it." He said. "Maybe one day when things aren't so crazy and I've got a family of my own I'll move back to the estate." Lily blushed a little more at his mention of family which seemed like the most irrational reaction ever but James Potter seemed to be able to get a blush out of her very easily without even trying.

"Sorry I didn't mean to be rude." Lily said in response. "Your home is lovely." Just as she said that as she said that a woman walked in in a large t-shirt and underwear and froze in the doorway.

"Woah," She said as she spotted Lily, in pyjamas and James' jumper, with a bloody leg sat at the table. Lily blinked realising this must be James' girlfriend so she sat up straight readying herself to explain the situation somehow.

"Hey Marlene, this is Lily, Lily Evans." James said in a weird tone. "Lily, Marlene McKinnon. I didn't think you'd be here Marlene." James added staring across the kitchen and speaking in the same weird tone.

"I shouldn't be here, but I finished the thing early and was in the area so I popped by for a visit…" She grinned a devilish grin and Lily felt uncomfortable like she should go.

"I'm sorry to intrude. I should go…" Lily said trying to get up.

"Evans don't be crazy, you're hurt. Here press this towel on your cut. Marl's could you do the honours?" James asked using an obvious pet name between lovers. Lily cringed at her jealousy. It had come out of nowhere and now she felt sick.

Lily took the damp towel wordlessly and pressed it to her throbbing knee and looked at Marlene and James. She winced at the sting but kept the pressure on anyway to stop the bleeding.

"Sure I'll just go grab my wand. Be right back." She said popping out of the kitchen. James came back over to Lily and took her hand holding the towel and moved it away to inspect the cut. Lily's heart raced at his hand touching hers.

"It doesn't look too bad." He said. "Marlene is an awesome healer, you won't even have a scar." Lily nodded, he was obviously a big fan of this girl.

Marlene came back into the kitchen, this time with pyjamas bottoms on and her wand in her hand. She knelt down next to Lily and waved her wand and muttered a couple of charms and Lily felt her leg immediately stop throbbing then the cut slowly closed up then finally she swished her wand and the blood, now dried, disappeared, leaving her knee as good as new.

"Wow, thank you. That was really impressive." Lily said, her old love of the art of healing coming back to her.

"No problem. Now do you kids want to explain what you've been up to this evening?" She said sitting at the kitchen table. James sighed and sat next to Lily who stayed quiet waiting for James to explain

"Well…" Just as he began a voice called out down the corridor.

"Is it true Lily Evans is sat in our kitchen Prongs?" A male voice called out and James winced.

"Sorry in advance Lily, Sirius still doesn't have a filter." James said quickly as Sirius Black, notorious playboy entered the kitchen with his signature swagger.

"So it's true, Hogwart's top Head Girl and estranged witch is sat in our humble kitchen. To what do we owe this honour?" Sirius asked as he stood in the doorway, shirtless and in a pair of checkered boxers. Lily blushed but not as his clothes but at his statement, although true to hear her characterised as estranged felt a little awkward.

"Put some clothes on Padfoot." James said looking at his friend in disdain and amusement.

"I would dear friend," He said strutting confidently across the kitchen and plonking himself down next to Marlene at the table. "But this little minx stole all my clothes." Then he leant across and kissed Marlene on the side of her head affectionately. She smiled at him cheekily and shrugged.

"They look better on me anyway," Marlene said and Lily realised she had got a little muddled with the relationships in this house. She also felt a little happy feeling of relief and her jealousy monster sunk back down.

"So are you going to explain Prongs or shall we come to our own conclusions?" Sirius probed further wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at the pair. James rolled his eyes and looked at Lily.

"Lily is part of an investigation that Mum and I are looking into. Her house was attacked tonight by death eaters and I went and got her out before they could…" He stopped short of saying it but his eyes darkened and he looked serious at the thought of what those people could have been planning to do.

"How did you know they were breaking in to go and get her?" Marlene asked curiously and James looked sheepish at this. Lily had wondered herself how he'd know to come but hadn't had a second to worry about it until then.

"I did wonder that myself," She said and his cheeks reddened a little.

"I may have put a little charm on your house to alert me to your movements and also if anyone other than you entered the house. It was just a precaution to make sure you were okay!" He said quickly as if to justify.

"So you've basically been… stalking me?" Lily said slowly.

"No!" He countered quickly. "More like monitoring, just as a safety precaution you know, and well… good thing I did I guess." He said solemnly and she couldn't help but agree.

"Maybe next time let me know when you're planning to 'monitor' me Potter," She said a little huffily but resigned that he had made the right decision on this occasion. He nodded in agreement and then let out a little yawn. Lily looked at the clock and saw it was 3am and felt a little sleepy herself.

"Lily, although it's lovely to see you again I'm going to have to head back to bed as I have an early morning meeting." Sirius said as he stretched and stood. He put out a hand to Marlene who laughed and took it as he pulled her up.

"Early morning meeting? I don't think you've got up before midday since you were a child Black." She scoffed following him out of the kitchen. Marlene waved to Lily as she was pulled along by Sirius and called.

"See you in the morning Lily," she said and this made Lily realise that she was obviously expected to stay here tonight, in James' house. She suddenly felt uncomfortable left alone with James not knowing what to do or where to go. James got up and got two glasses out of the cupboard and used his wand to fill them up with cold water. He handed one to Lily but stayed standing.

"You can stay with us until we know more about last night. I don't think it's safe for you to go home any time soon." He said seriously and she felt comforted by his concern but uneasy about staying in his home.

"I can't intrude on you like this, I can go and stay in a hotel." She said getting up.

"No way. I'm not letting you out of my sight." James said abruptly and then went quiet having realised the intimacy of what he had said. "I mean I think it's safer for you here. You can sleep in my room and I'll sleep in Remus', he's away on business for a few days." Lily remembered Remus Lupin another member of the infamous Marauders. He had always been quieter and more thoughtful that the other boys at school so Lily remembered him fondly.

"It's fine honestly I can sleep on the sofa." Lily said not wanting to be trouble but James shook his head and ignored her request.

He lead the way out of the kitchen and further into the house, she saw a door closed and assumed that was Sirius room as she heard a light giggle from inside which made Lily blush. The house was dark so she trod carefully through the hallway which led to an old staircase upstairs. She followed him up and as they reached the top he gestured forward with his hand towards a room across the landing. She went forward and entered a room, small but tidy with a large double bed in the middle and a few pieces of furniture scattered about the room. He quickly scurried over to the corner chair which had a few piece of clothes hanging off it and grabbed them and threw them into his laundry bin.

She could tell he was nervous but wasn't really sure why as he was at home and she was in the alien place.

"There's clean towels in the bathroom across the hall if you want to shower in the morning and help yourself to anything you need in the kitchen. I'll be right across the hall in Remus' room if you need anything. Will you be okay?" He asked again using the gentle caring voice he seemed to reserve for checking on her.

"Yes, I'll be fine." She said looking around the room. It was tidy and simple with little decoration which isn't what she expected.

"It's not much but I spend more time working than anything these days so I'm hardly ever here." he said noting her staring at the room.

"It's perfect, thank you." She said looking at him. "Thank you… for everything." She really was grateful, he'd saved her from more than just the attackers in her house, he had saved her from a dreary life alone and now she felt a part of something. James wished her goodnight and turned and left closing the door behind him.

She placed her wand, still clutched in her hand on the night stand and climbed into bed, suddenly exhaustion took over her as her head hit the pillow, which smelled comforting and musty like James. She drifted off to sleep and dreamt of nothing.


	6. A Sign

Lily woke in the morning and felt very disorientated. She lay in the bed trying to work out where she was and it took a few minutes for her to realise she was in James Potter's bed, in his house and the events of the night before came back to her.

She looked around for a clock to gage the time but there wasn't one, alarm clocks were a muggle thing so she supposed James had no use for one. She quickly went into the bathroom and showered to wake up properly and to wash away last night. She stared at her reflection and her face looked different, her curly red hair fell down around her face, something she rarely did and framed her freckled fair skin and vibrant green eyes. She shrugged and let her hair remain down and headed back into the bedroom with just a towel wrapped around her, moving quickly so she didn't bump into anyone, especially James.

She realised she didn't have any clean clothes to change into and her pyjamas were hardly appropriate attire for the day time. She decided to take a liberty and looked in James' closet and found an old gryffindor quidditch shirt and some tracksuit bottoms. Both of them swamped Lily but she had no other option so she pulled them on and headed downstairs.

She tiptoed downstairs in case anyone was still asleep and entered the kitchen meekly looking around but it was hard to miss James, back to her, at the stove. He was dressed already and madly darting around trying to stir one sauce pan and manage something in another. She smiled watching him struggle and cleared her throat to let him know she was there.

"Morning," She said as he turned to look at her, his eyebrows raising as he noticed her clothes. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your clothes, I didn't have anything else." She added. She looked across the room and didn't see Marlene or Sirius assuming they were either out of in bed still. The clock above the stove said it was 9.30am so it might be too early for Sirius still.

James turned back to the food as the pan sizzled loudly and let out a little curse as he burned his finger on the hot pan.

"No that's fine," He said in between turning the stove off and sucking his burnt finger. "I should have thought of clothes. I'll grab something of Marlene's later for you to wear, she won't mind. I heard you in the shower so I'm attempting to make you breakfast but as you can see I'm failing miserably." He said as he pulled out two plates. She couldn't help but grin at his floundering trying to getting the ingredients to a english breakfast onto the plate. The result wasn't actually a total failure although the scrambled eggs were a big on the runny side. He placed the two plates on the table and sat down looking a bit stressed out by the whole process of muggle cooking.

"Why didn't you use magic?" She asked curiously with a little smile coming through as she found his struggling quite amusing. He looked a bit sheepish and took his burnt finger out of his mouth,

"I had the good fortune of having a house elf my whole childhood so I don't really know any cooking spells. I usually just eat on the go so never really needed to learn them." He said sitting and pouring them both some orange juice which was already on the table.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked her as they settled to eat. She took a bite of the bacon which was very crispy but still tasted really good.

"Yes, I did surprisingly, like a log. Thank you for cooking, this is great." She said tucking into the food, he looked pleased and watched as she ate the food.

"So," She said breaking the quiet. Her next move was on her mind, she obviously couldn't stay with James forever and she also had to go back to her house at some point. "What do I do now? When can I go home?" She asked. James chewed his food slowly and then swallowed, a troubled look on his face.

"I honestly don't know. I don't think it's safe for you to go home right now." He said frowning knowing that wasn't the answer she was looking dor.

"Do you know anything more about the farmhouse incident? Are you closer to solving the case? I feel like I still don't know so much and I can't just sit here waiting." She asked, feeling helpless was something Lily was used to but this situation made her feel something different to normal, she felt energy for once. She wanted to be involved, she wanted to help.

"I know, I'm sorry you feel so in the dark. I was trying to protect you but I see now that didn't work. I'll explain as much as I know." He said putting down his knife and fork as he finished his food.

"The event Mr Dawes saw wasn't the first of its kind in recent years, it happens relatively frequently, every month or so someone goes missing but we've never been able to place blame. The cover up is from the highest level and it's so important we get evidence to go to the wizengamot with as the ministry are refusing to acknowledge the situation." James said, anger and frustration showing in his voice. "The situation with Dawes has been the biggest breakthrough we've had because it's slightly different to the others. The ministry had also been openly looking for the man Mr Dawes witnessed. The man with the purple birthmark." James said, Lily listened intently taking in everything he said. "The man is called Rupert Hurtwell and he's a famous wizarding historian and generally pretty well known for being as dodgy as they come. The ministry wanted to discuss some cases with him that related to some stolen artifacts that it was rumoured he had and as soon as we went to find him he disappeared and hasn't been seen or heard of since. That was 9 months ago and we weren't sure at the time if he was running from the ministry or something else as when we went to his home it looked like there had been a struggle of some kind and the house was pretty trashed." James continued, Lily's attention still firmly on him.

"We weren't sure if he had already been kidnapped so we were trying to find him and then when this story came up, it's obvious he had been in hiding and the death eaters had found him. I only found out about the situation because I read a file I shouldn't have in the auror office. It referenced Mr Dawes police report of the incident, thankfully it didn't mention you but it doesn't really matter now as the death eaters obviously know you're involved. They're get to anyone to cover up whatever they're doing." James finished.

Lily took in all he had said and tried to rationalise it.

"So what does Hurtwell have that the ministry, or the death eaters want?" She asked.

"That's the thing, the corruption runs deep in the ministry so it's hard to tell if their agendas are the same but the ministry are just claiming he had been linked to some stolen artifacts, unspecified and they want to 'question him'. He specialises in Hogwarts founders memorabilia so I assume it's something linked to that." He added.

"If the ministry is corrupt why do you and your mother still work there?" She asked. James obviously had noble intentions but continuing to fuel this corrupt office seemed pointless.

"We're using our in at the ministry to feed information back to the separate collective we're a part of. I can't tell you more than that but if you want to know more I can take you to the meeting later today. You'll have to swear an unbreakable vow in order to go though so I'll understand if you don't want to." He said, his face let nothing go but she could tell he wasn't overjoyed at the thought of her going.

"Yes, I'll go." She said firmly straight away. There was no way she could get in this deep and then walk away, back to her dreary muggle existence. "I can't walk away now, I can't go home so all I can do is maybe help."

"Talking of your home, I woke Sirius up early, to his great delight, and he's popped over to check on your house." He said, and if by magic there was a loud growl of a motor bike and Lily saw a huge motorbike, straddled by Sirius lower into their tiny garden. The noise of the engine so loud Lily couldn't even hear James say something. Once the engine turned off James said it again.

"He knows how to make an entrance." He said rolling his eyes at his best friend as he strolled into the kitchen.

"Morning mate," James said smiling at his friend. Sirius looked like a stereotypical bad boy, black ripped jeans, rock band t-shirt and a well worn leather jacket. He had always been a heartthrob at school and girls had loved him but Lily had always thought he was an arrogant prick at tried to push her old opinions of him down though as it was ten years ago and they had all changed a lot since then, her especially.

Sirius didn't respond to his friends greeting, the smirk he'd seemed to have permanently plastered on his face was gone and he looked uncharacteristically serious, no pun intended.

"How did it go?" James asked picking up on his friend's vibe. Sirius shook his head and looked at Lily as if to say not in front of her.

"Just say it," Lily said, she could tell it was bad news she might as well hear it now. Sirius raked a hand through his long main of black hair and sighed trying to find his words.

"The house is in pretty bad shape, still standing just about but torn apart from top to bottom. They were either looking for something or pretty pissed off to have let you go." He said and Lily felt a tightness in her throat hearing of her childhood house destroyed.

"I'm really sorry Evans," He said sincerely. "Seemed like a nice place." He walked across the kitchen and poured some coffee and he and James waited for Lily's reaction.

"I… I don't know what to do now." She said trying to hold back tears, she didn't want to cry in front of James and Sirius. She had a quick flash back to school when James had teased her in first year about her red hair and she'd cried in front of him and it brought back the same feeling of shame. She had promised herself she would never cry in front of him again.

"You can stay here as long as you need Lily." James said kindly, his word breaking her out of her old memory of him tormenting her. She thanked him and sipped her drink trying to come to terms with the loss of the house and all its content. Photos and memories gone forever.

"I can't stay here though, I have a job and… and…." She barely finished as she knew it wasn't really true. Her only life was writing the occasional article for a local newspaper and living in her mother's old house. Her sister didn't care what she did and she had no friends, other than maybe Gina, who would notice she was even gone.

"You'll be okay Lily. Even though I think this is scary and a terrible situation don't you think this is a sign?" James said. Lily was confused by this.

"A sign? For what?" She asked almost annoyed. He realised he'd annoyed her with his statement and he continued on.

"A sign that you need to come back. Rejoin the wizarding world and come out of hiding. You're an amazing witch. You could do amazing things." He said.

Lily didn't know what to say, his words were flattering but also terrified her. She had been a stranger to this world for so long that rejoining it seemed impossible. She nodded though and felt that same energy she had felt earlier spark inside of her. Maybe the old Lily wasn't gone forever.


	7. The Photo Album

Sirius went out after breakfast saying he was going to pick up Remus which Lily thought strange as surely Remus could apparate but she didn't question it as she didn't want to pry. He gave Lily further condolences to Lily about her house and also told her to help herself to Marlene's saying "the less of her crap in my room the better" before making his exit.

Once alone James explained that today was his day off so he could stay and keep her company and asked what she wanted to do. She was grateful for the loan of Marlene's clothes but she also needed to pick up some things at some point but she didn't care at the moment, she just needed to take in what had happened in the last couple of weeks.

James had to pop out to meet with his mother to give her a report on the last day and he left Lily at home to chill and watch TV. She asked if he had a telephone and he said yes but he said to make sure he didn't tell anyone where she was.

She felt weird being in someone else's, never mind James's, house. She wasn't a nosey person but when she went upstairs to change she couldn't help but open a few drawers and have a look inside. He didn't seem to be a bit hoarder and most were full of neatly folded clothes but she did find a photo album in the bottom drawer of his dresser, under a pile of shirts (okay maybe she was nosey).

She pulled the leather bound album out and sat on his bed and open it to see what it contained. The pictures were the magical moving ones which she had always thought was an amazing piece of magic. A young first or second year James waved up at her from the first picture and Sirius was zooming around him on a broom while Remus and Peter clapped and laughed in the background. The four marauders had been inseparable at school and although at the time were the bane of her life, she had always admired their friendship.

She flicked through the pages and even remembered some of the pictures. One was of the four boys sat in the great hall at breakfast and behind them the entire table of Slytherins all had bright gryffindor red hair. The boys were grinning so wide in the picture they looked ready to burst. She couldn't help but smile at the picture - she would never have said this at the time but seeing Rudolphus Lestrange with bright red hair was a real Hogwarts highlight.

She got towards the middle of the book and a picture caught her eye as she had thought it was just of the Hogwarts landscape overlooking the lake but she saw in the shadows of a tree a flash of red hair and realised she was sat under the tree reading. She looked closely and could see how into the book she was as she hadn't noticed the picture being taken.

She thought it was weird he kept this photo all these years but perhaps James hadn't realised she was down there when he took the picture. It reminded her of her fond memories of school, they had been the best years of her life. She flicked through the rest of the album and saw a few of his home photos, his mother featured and a man who she assumed was his father. He never mentioned his father and she was curious but she knew better than to ask. Her own past with her father was painful, he had walked out on his family when they were just young children and never come back.

She was just about to close the album when a couple of sheets of paper fell out of the back. She knew she should leave it but she was in this deep snooping around so she opened one of the folded sheets and saw it was a letter. It looked like a love letter from the first sentence but she quickly realised its intent was not quite as romantic.

" _Dear James Potter,_

 _I am happy to confirm that you have been selected as head boy for the new year at Hogwarts. Congratulations on your achievement and we look forward to seeing you as a strong leader in the new school year._

 _Kind regards,_

 _Albus Dumbledore_

 _Headmaster"_

Lily put the letter down in shock. James and Lily were in the same year at school and she had been head girl and Gideon Prewett had been head boy. Why has James not been head boy if he had been offered the place?

She sat for a moment then saw the other small piece of paper underneath and saw it was a Daily Prophet newspaper clipping from 11 years prior.

 _HEAD OF AUROR DEPARTMENT KILLED IN RANDOM ATTACK!_

 _Henry Potter was found late last night in his home by his family. The scene was not suspicious but looked to be a random burglary which ended in fatality._

 _He is survived by his wife Freya and son James._

The article was so brief and gave no further detail and left Lily shocked and outraged. He was found by his family, did that mean James or his mother? Either way it explained why they had moved from the estate after such a trauma. She felt like she had intruded too far now and quickly slipped the paper back into the album and tucked the album into the drawer so it didn't look disturbed.

She then went downstairs into the living room and read a book she had found lying around on magical beasts and their properties. A class she had always enjoyed at school and had often discuss with the groundskeeper Rubeus.

Time ticked by and she wondered when James was getting back. She was just about to look for another book when she saw an owl tap on the window. She sighed in relief as she saw it was Morgan.

"Thank god!" She said getting up to open the window and let her in. She didn't appear harmed which was Lily's worry. Morgan had been out hunting mice the night before so Lily hadn't known if she was safe. She affectionately stroked her feathers and let her nibble at her fingers. A moment later the door opened and closed and Lily looked up to see Sirius walk in with a very frail looking Remus Lupin. She jumped out of her chair in surprise and made Morgan squawk.

"Remus!" She said walking to greet him. Just as she got closer she realised Remus was leaning pretty much all of his weight on Sirius and Sirius was hardly even straining as Remus looked so underweight.

"Hi Lily," Remus said, his voice hoarse. "So great to see you. I'm not feeling so great so I'm going to have to rest but perhaps we can catch up in a few days." Remus said as Sirius started to lead him up the stairs to his room. She waved and called that she hoped he felt better then sat back in the chair in the lounge.

She could hear Sirius talking to Remus and then the door close and Sirius trudge back downstairs in his heavy boots.

"So Evans what have you been up to? I hope you haven't been snooping in my knicker drawer." Sirius said which made Lily squirm as she had in fact been snooping in James'.

"Just reading. My owl just arrived." Lily said stroking Morgan. Sirius looked surprised.

"That's your owl?" He asked. Lily nodded and questioned why.

"Because that's James' Òir. since he was 15. She's a beauty." Sirius said smiling knowingly like he knew something Lily didn't.

"Oh… well he gave her to me. Or leant maybe. So I could keep in touch." She said and Sirius raised his eyebrows. He kicked off his boots and flung himself onto the sofa obviously settling in to hang out with her. She leant back in the chair and waited for his next statement.

"Are you coming to the meeting tonight?" He asked her.

"Yes, James asked me earlier and I'd like to come. I want to help." She replied.

"Good for you Lilykins, that's the spark I knew so well from school." He said giving her a thumbs up from his lying position. He looked over at her and grinned. "Remember when you gave me a month of weekend detentions for cursing Snivellus so that every time he sat down his bum set on fire?" Lily winced at the mention of Severus, she still found it uncomfortable to talk about her old friend. They had gone down very different paths and it made her sad to think about how far they were apart now.

"You were a nightmare." She said but her tone had humour in it. "My favourite one was when you charmed Bellatrix so that every time she insulted someone it became a compliment. I didn't know a witch could go so red." She let out a giggle at the mention and Sirius barked out a laugh too. His favourite pass time at school had been torturing his evil cousin.

"I certainly wish it was that easy now. If I could just curse her and shove her in the under stairs cupboard it would be a lot easier. Most of my family is wrapped up in this war." He said still in his usual tone but she could see a sadness behind his eyes at the mention of his family.

"You don't talk to your family anymore?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Orphan child of the city me." He said lightly.

"Me either. My sister hates me and there isn't anyone else." She said. Realising how depresseing that sounded she added, "Probably for the best as her husband looks and acts like an angry warthog."

"What's his name? I love muggle names." Sirius asked smiling over at her.

"Vernon Dursley." She said letting out a little snort of laughter.

"That's a corker - even his name sounds like he'll be a warthog." He said and Lily laughed and told him about the story when Vernon came over for dinner and he drank too much and spilled red wine all down himself before dessert had even been served.

As they were laughing James walked in the door and smiled at them from the doorway.

"What's so funny?" He asked smiling down at Lily, it was probably the first time since the beginning of this whole event that he'd seen her properly smile.

"Just hearing about Lily's funny muggle relatives James. I would swap mine for crazy muggles any day." He said sitting up and letting James sit next to him.

"How's Mum?" Sirius asked. Lily noted he called her Mum like his own, perhaps Sirius wasn't an orphan after all.

"She's good, she's got a full report from everyone to go through later so I'll save it all till then. She said Sunday though okay?" James asked without explaining. Sirius nodded and looked at Lily to explain.

"Freya demands we come over for Sunday lunch every week but I've missed a few so she's going to either smack my bum or ground me if I don't make the next one." He said cheekily.

"You've used the excuse of work too many time now she knows you're just shacking up with Marlene and if you're not careful she'll tell her parents and then you'll have Charles to deal with." James said back and at this Sirius did become and little more sober.

"No way I don't do parents and I definitely don't do Marlene's parents." He said and then said directly to Lily. "They really don't like me."

"You blew up their antique fireplace!" James added in.

"I threw in too much floo powder - anyone could have made that mistake!" Sirius said and Lily chuckled at the two's banter. They really were brothers for all intents and purposes.

As both men had the day off from work, Lily discovered that Sirius was also an Auror, they decided to head out for lunch at a nearby place they liked. James said it was a wizard venue but that it was very safe for them to go there.

They walked which surprised Lily, she didn't think wizards walked anywhere, but the place they were going really was very nearby. Lily took in their surroundings and it was clear they were in very central London, in a nice area. From the front James' house looked modest and homely, it overlooking a park which was a nice feature.

They walked a few blocked then turned into an alley between a fruit and veg shop and a newspaper shop. Lily knew the wizarding world had cunning ways of hiding their existence so she followed without question. The alley arced round and led to a few steps and then a bright red door.

James leant forward and whispered something then knocked on the door three times. After a few seconds a little hatch opened on the door and some beady eyes looked out at them. Recognition immediately showed in the eyes and the door swung open.

In the doorway stood a small grizzly old house elf with a jaunty hat sat lopsided on his head. He grinned a toothless smile up at them.

"Black, it's been what hours since you last came by." The elf croaked out sarcastically. Sirius grinned and patted the elf on the head, which was quickly swept away by the elf and strolled casually inside. James ushered Lily to follow and she walked into the building. The door led to a corridor and she followed Sirius down, James behind her.

"Thanks Griff." James called as they left the corridor and entered a larger room, it was dark inside but welcoming and Lily realised it was a bar of sorts. A number of different characters were inside having a drink or eating food, including what looks like a goblin, two very tall wizards whispering to each other in the corner and three Veelas with white blonde hair sat giggling and sipping what looked like sherry but Lily assumed it was probably more magical than that.

"Prewitts! An Ale for my merry band!" Sirius called across to the bar. Two men stood behind the bar, one polishing glasses and the other leaning against the counter writing on a piece of parchment. Lily did a double take as the two men as they had fiery red hair similar to hers and also were completely identical.

"Alright Black," One said, his face opened up into a grin and he shook Sirius' hand as he reached the bar and hopped onto a stool.

"And Potter too. This is a pleasant surprise we haven't seen you around in a while." The other twin said. James smiled and shook both twins hands, obviously on friendly terms with the two barkeeps. The second twin noticed Lily as well but waited on James or Sirius to introduce them. He raised his eyebrows to James and he coughed.

"Oh right, this is Lily." James said quickly. He seemed nervous and scratched the back of his neck.

"Lily you say," The first twin said now raising his eyebrows and putting down the glass he had been drying manually.

"This is Gideon," James said pointing at the twin leaning on the bar writing. "And this is Fabian. They own this little establishment and also are childhood friends of mine." He explained and the twins nodded.

"I vaguely remember you from the school days I think Lily. James might have mentioned your name once or twice." He said smiling a knowing smile and Lily saw James' eye bug a little.

"Can we please grab three butterbeers and whatever your special in today for lunch?" James asked quickly for a change of subject.

"Of course dear boy." Fabian said.

"Make that four Fabe." Sirius called out to him, he was already comfortably sat in a booth to the side of the bar. James thanked the guys and walked over to join Sirius and asked who the fourth was.

"Marlene. I thought I'd make this a double date." Sirius said in a teasing voice which made James squint his eyes accusingly at his friend as Lily sat down with them.

"Oh so you are dating her then?" James said smirking. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"We're just good friends Potter. You know this stallion can't be broken." He said sweeping his hair over the top dramatically and earning a sort of giggle snort from Lily. He wiggled his eyebrows at Lily and as their drinks arrived.

"Funny that as she's been round our house I would say 6 out of 7 days a week for the last month, she now apparently keeps stuff in your bedroom also a little birdy told me the craziest rumour that you were planning, dare I say it, a mini break."James said, his teasing tone in full swing and Lily could see Sirius was trying to remain calm but the last thing got to him.

"I do not go on bloody mini breaks!" Sirius said. "I would hardly call a trip to clear out my Uncle's place a mini break!"

"Hey babe, are you telling them about our romantic little weekender?" Marlene said appearing and sliding in next to Sirius. He groaned knowing he wasn't going to win and just sulked and sipped his beer as Marlene grinned and kissed his cheek.

"Good to see you again Lily. That red really suits you." Marlene said smiling at Lily. Lily felt embarrassed as she had borrowed her clothes without getting her direct permission.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask you… I hope you don't mind! Sirius said it was cool!" Lily blurted out quickly.

"And it totally is - keep it it looks great on you." Marlene said warmly as she took a sip of her butterbeer. Lily sat comfortably with the group and as their food arrived. The chatter turned to a story Marlene had about her brother sneaking out of their family home and how her parents were punishing him. The boys laughed saying it reminded them of their younger years. Lily felt a tension she hadn't known was there loosen suddenly and she felt age for once.

For so many years the responsibility of caring for her mother has aged her and made her feel like her youth was behind her. But as she sat listening to the jokes between James and Sirius and the affection between Sirius and Marlene she felt a warm feeling of belonging she hadn't felt in a long time.


	8. The Order

The afternoon grew on and they chilled in the bar for hours, the Prewitt's joining them for some time and chatting to them. Gideon and Fabian Prewitt had been three years above them in school so Lily didn't really remember them but they had known the boys from Quidditch. Gideon had been captain before handing the title over to James, he was one of the youngest captain's ever as he received it in fourth year. Lily remembered thinking at school that James' one redeeming quality was his dedication to the sport which he took very seriously.

The afternoon dragged on and they made a move to leave, James said quietly before leaving as he shook both of their hands that he would see the twins later. Lily assumed that meant that they also were a part of the secret group that they were going to that evening. Lily felt nervous about the meeting, not just the unbreakable vow she would have to commit to but also the idea of being part of a secret resistance. Only a week before she'd had no idea a war was even brewing in the wizarding world, she'd been an alien apart from everything, and now she was right at the centre.

The group walked back through the streets of London, this time with Marlene accompanying them. The boys walked slightly ahead, Lily could hear James laughing at something Sirius was telling him and after the story ended James grabbed Sirius and tried to put him in headlock which Sirius resisted.

Seeing James play fight seemed strange as the James she had known from recent accounts was serious and not playful. She remembered him as a prankster at school unable to take anything seriously or ever have a sincere moment.

Lily walked alongside Marlene as the boys ran ahead continuing their playfight. Marlene watched affectionately and Lily had to stop herself doing the same.

"So Lily," Marlene said suddenly out of the blue. "I've been thinking about your situation and I think I can help."

"Help with what?" Lily asked confused.

"Your living situation." Marlene said. "I know you're kind of stuck because you can't go home, at least not until your house is fixed up and the coast is clear so I think you should come and stay with me. I have a spare room as my flatmate just moved out so you'll be doing me a favour. I'm not there that often so we won't be on top of each other." She finished and looked at Lily expectantly. Lily felt so surprised at the offer that she didn't say anything for a moment.

"That's so nice of you but I'm not sure, I don't want to put you out," Lily said, her usual insecurity wading in.

"I'm not the type to offer something if I didn't want to Lily. Come on," She said walking quicker to catch up with the boys. "You can come round after the meeting tonight and settle in." Lily chased after her and felt for the first time in a long time that something might actually be going right for her.

The clock struck 7.30pm and James was yelling for Sirius to get his act together as they needed to apparate to the meeting. The four of them gathered in the back garden and apparated, Lily side along with James as although she had her wand with her, she didn't feel confident enough to try apparating as it was such a long time since she'd last done it.

Lily closed her eyes and when she opened them she felt her feet gently touch the ground. The landing was considerably softer than the last time she'd apparated and she let out a sigh of relief she hadn't known she was holding.

"No scrapes this time," James said grinning down with her and she smiled back but quickly let go of his arm. She looked around them and it looked like they were in a small village somewhere in the countryside. Sirius and Marlene were already walking down the street towards a house in the distance lit by a lantern outside.

James and Lily followed them and walked down the pathway to the rickety old house. I had some quirky features to it including a very lopsided chimney which was blowing out purple smoke and the lantern Lily saw up close was actually some kind of large glowing magical insect buzzing around the glass case.

They walked down the path and Sirius and Marlene had waited for them and as they got to the door Sirius knocked on the door three times then paused, then knocked again twice. There was no immediate answer and then the door creaked open a tiny little bit.

"Password!" A husky voice called out.

"Peppermint toad." James said quietly and the door swung open a little bit more just enough to allow one person in at a time. The hallway was empty when they entered apart the man who had let them in. He was a sight to behold to say the least, his face was gnarled and scarred and his left eye was covered in an eye patch. Lily looked down and also saw his left leg was replaced by a wooden one.

"Evening Alastor." Sirius said, the man didn't offer a hand to shake though and just eyed them all. Lily tried not to stare but his one good eye seemed to be transfixed on her.

"You brought a newbie Potter?" He barked out, his voice harsh and unwelcoming making Lily shrink back a little.

"Yes Alastor. This is Lily Evan's, I believe my Mum briefed you on the situation." He said. Alastor nodded and rocked from his good leg to his wooden one. "Lily, this is Alastor Moody renowned auror." James said formally. Lily didn't reached to shake his hand and just nodded at him as politely as she could.

"Yes, yes, no time for formalities, come on." He said and then he led them into a side room off the hallway and ushered them inside. Sirius and Marlene didn't followed and Marlene gave Lily a little thumbs up as the door closed.

"You explained to her what this is for Potter?" Alastor said to James.

"She knows as much as I could tell her without breaking my vow." James said and Alastor nodded.

"You ready to take the vow girlie?" Alastor asked her. She had read about the vow at school, a binding vow that could never be broken. She wasn't entirely sure if she was ready but in her heart she knew she had to do this.

"Y-yes." She stuttered. She then coughed and cleared her throat. "Yes I am." She repeated more firmly.

James stood to the side and Moody held out his right hand, covered in scars Lily hesitated them grabbed his hand. Moody waved his wand over their enclosed hands and a swirl of magic encased them.

"Do you Lily Evans promise to keep the Order of the Phoenix, its members and the plans of the order secret?" Alastor said. Lily felt a little dizzy with the magic swirling around but she held her head up and looked into Alastor's eyes.

"Yes." She said firmly.

Alastor waved his wand again and the magic swirling around their hands sped up and then disappeared and he let go of her hand. She felt a slight tingling but she wasn't sure if that was the magic or Moody's tight grip.

"Is it done?" Lily asked. Alastor rolled his eyes.

"Were you expecting a blood oath Miss Evans?" He asked sarcastically and she blushed and didn't answer.

"Alright Moody that'll do. We need to get into the meeting now come on." James said heading for the door, a look of relief on his face, Lily followed and Moody hobbled along behind them.

Lily walked into what she assumed would be a living room in the home and as the door closed behind her she was suddenly hit by a burst of sound she hadn't even sensed from outside. The living room was much larger that it appeared outside, an obvious enlargement charm Lily thought. The sound must have also been muffled as there was no way this room, filled with at least 50 people, wouldn't have been heard from the street. Lily looked around and most people were sat talking animatedly, she recognised a few people from school and even a few teachers.

James walked across the room towards Sirius and Marlene when she suddenly heard her name called across the room. She turned and saw someone rushing over to her, Lily blinked and suddenly realised who it was.

"Alice!" Lily said hugging her old friend. Alice hugged her back and then took a step back to look at her.

"Lily it's been so long! Where have you been? When did you get here? What are you doing here? I have so many question!" Alice exclaimed. Alice was a small witch with a pixie cut of dark brown hair but her ferocious personality made up for her size. Lily had been best friends with her at school and they had even started healer training together but when Lily had left to care for her mother they had drifted apart and it was one of Lily's great regrets.

"It's so good to see you Alice." Lily said smiling at her old friend. "There's so much to catch up on, I…" Lily began and then heard a call from the front as the meeting obviously was beginning.

"I'll catch you afterwards," Alice whispered squeezing Lily's hand before sneaking back to her seat next to Frank Longbottom. They'd begun dating when Lily had been training with Alice all those years ago so Lily was pleased to see they were still together.

Lily walked quickly over to sit next to James in an empty seat he'd saved for her. He smiled down at her then looked to the front when Lily saw Freya was standing, obviously about to lead the meeting.

"Good evening everyone," She spoke out. The last few people speaking in the back quietened and the entire room gave her their full attention.

"We thank you for your attendance, we're going to jump straight into it as it's not wise to prolong these gatherings. The information we've gathered in the last two weeks has been the most valuable since the beginning of the order. I know a lot of you have voiced frustration at the fact we have not led any raids yet," Alastor Moody cough conspicuously, "But I continue to stress that offensive maneuvers can only be justified once we have conclusive proof of what Lord Voldemort or the death eaters are planning." A few shudders went around the room as her uttering the name. Lily was shocked by the power the name had.

"However the details we received about a recent kidnapping of Rupert Hurtwell has confirmed our earlier theories that the dark lord is hunting relics. The sad news that reached us yesterday was that Hurtwell's body was found." Lily gasped quietly at the news and James reached for her hand and squeezed it to comfort her.

"Our next move is to try and be one step ahead of them in their search as we don't know if Hurtwell gave them any information. I'll be assigning search missions to various order members, I can't stress enough how careful everyone must be. We don't want anyone outside of this room to know we have any idea what the death eaters are searching for. The best way to catch them is to let them think they're going unnoticed.

The strength we hold now is that we are building numbers and tyey have no idea that the order exists. We need to continue growing and gain as much intel as we can before we strike." She said fiercely. Lily looked around the room and the faces staring at her all looked determined and ready for whatever was coming, Lily admired their bravery.

"For those who work in the ministry we need your reports in so please come and find me or James at the front and we'll take account of your information." She finished and Lily realised she meant James Potter. He let go of her hand which she hadn't noticed he was still holding. He stood and walked over to his mother and they talked to a small group who had gathered near the front.

Lily sat for a moment alone looking around the room and then Alice returned to sit in the seat James had left empty.

"Lily I'm so happy you're here. My biggest regret is that we ever lost touch." She said hugging her friend again.

"I don't blame you Alice, I think I pushed most people away for a long time. I'm just glad to be… back." Lily replied. They sat for a while catching up and discussing what had been going on in their lives. Lily explained about her mother and she received another big hug from Alice. Alice however had happier news and said she was married to Frank Longbottom as they had eloped two years earlier much to the dismay of his mother.

Lily hadn't felt this close to her old self in so long as as she laughed at Alice's reminiscing about them trying fire whisky for the first time on a fourth year Hogsmeade weekend Lily realised the room had cleared out.

"We have to stay in touch Lily! Have you got an owl?" She asked. Lily nodded and they swapped information and made plans to meet up the following week. She then scampered off to catch up with Frank who waved at Lily.

Lily then looked around and saw the meeting room was now pretty empty and only a handful of people were left. She saw James was still at the front of the room and she noticed the woman he was talking to, a talk slim woman with long blonde hair, had her hand on James' arm and was laughing loudly at something he had said. She looked away as though her internal feelings might show if she looked at him talking to another woman.

Her thoughts whirred around and she question whether she was going crazy, her stomach growling in jealousy for a man she used to hate at high school and had only recently got to know again seemed ridiculous. She looked around the room and spotted Marlene and Sirius so she joined them to distract herself.

"Hey," She said as she walked over.

"Hey Lily," Marlene greeted her. "You must remember Remus and Peter from school right?" Next to them stood Remus, still looking very frail and tired but considerably better than earlier, and then Peter Pettigrew who looked much like he did at school, small and chubby with a constant look of fear on his face.

"Yes, hey guys. Long time." She said smiling. Remus returned her smiled but she thought she almost saw a glimmer of disdain in Peter's eyes before he cracked a smile back.

"You ready to go?" Marlene asked Lily. Lily looked back over to James and he was still talking to the blonde woman.

"Yeah, sure. I guess I should go say bye to James," Lily said. Marlene followed her gaze and groaned.

"He's talking to bubble brain." She said back to Sirius who also groaned in response. Lily took it that they didn't like her much but she knew she had to be polite and go say bye to James after everything he ad done for her so she walked over and stood next to them politely for them to notice her.

The woman was laughing hysterically again at something James had just said, who knew he was so funny? She continued to giggle and ignore Lily standing there but James noticed her and smiled.

"Hey Lily, this is Rosa." He said introducing them. The woman turned, her hand still on James' arm and her smile dropped as she took in Lily from top to toe but she said nothing.

"Nice to meet you." Lily said politely ignoring the other woman blanking her, Rosa just gave her the most insincere smile back. "Marlene has offered me her guest room to stay in for a while so I'm going to head off with her now." James nodded and she thought he almost looked disappointed.

"Bye then," Rosa said snarkily dismissing Lily quickly and turning back to James. James' attention was still on Lily though. Lily felt a little bubble of anger rise in her as she let this woman's tone wash over her.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" James asked concerned.

"I'll be fine. I just wanted to say thanks for everything you've done for me." She said smiling. Rosa rolled her eyes and something came over Lily so she added, "I'll come and pick up my clothes from your bedroom tomorrow if that's okay." She saw James' eyes widen at Lily's audacity then she waved, smiled and wingled her fingers in a wave as she turned and walked away back towards Marlene. She had spotted Rosa's jaw drop and she felt a sick satisfaction and tried not to let it show on her face.

As they left Marlene and Sirius were bickering about sleeping arrangements.

"I'm going back to mine Black and you can't come. I want to have a girls night with Lily and you aren't invited." She said firmly, but as she finished Sirius wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered something in her ear. Lily could tell it was filthy as Marlene's eye bugged out, but she pulled his arms off her and pushed him back towards Remus and Peter.

"No, get away you dirty dog. I'll see you tomorrow… maybe." Marlene said waving at Sirius seductively before pulling Lily away and out of the front door. Lily waved at him also and he stood in the doorway pouting like a little child which made Lily laugh.

The girls strolled down the dark street and away from the house.

"It's good to have you here Lily," Marlene said out of the blue. Lily looked at her to see her meaning and Marlene looked thoughtful as they walked.

"What makes you say that?" Lily asked.

"My family and James' family were close growing up and when Henry died, that's James' Dad," Marlene explained, "James lost that spark he'd always had. He was obnoxious when he was younger sure but he's always been kind at heart. I noticed he's been a bit more like his old self the last week or so, I can only assume it's because the famous Lily Evans has reappeared."

"Famous?" Lily asked confused.

"I just remember James mentioning you once or twice in the school holidays when we were younger." Marlene said grinning. Lily didn't say anything as she wasn't completely sure what Marlene was insinuating, James had been a nightmare to her at school. He had teased her mercilessly but he had also constantly asked her out but she had thought that was all part of his torture.

They apparated back to London and Marlene took Lily to her place. It was a second floor apartment in an old block. The apartment itself was beautiful with high windows spacious rooms. Marlene showed Lily her bedroom and it was a pretty space and Lily felt at home very quickly.

"I spoke to the boys earlier and they said they would take you to your house tomorrow." Marlene said and Lily felt nervous at the thought of seeing her house in disarray.

"Sirius said it was still standing but the inside was pretty damaged. He put a charm on it to hide the damage from your neighbours so there's no rush if you don't want to go." Marlene said.

"No, I want to." Lily said. She knew she needed to gather some of her belongings and there was no point putting it off. Marlene fetched her some pyjamas and they sat in the lounge and talked for a while before going to bed. Lily found out Marlene had been at Hogwarts too and was two years older and a Ravenclaw. She made a joke about Sirius liking older women and Lily smiled knowing that their relationship was deeper than that. Marlene also shared some more details about the order and its origin, explaining that Albus Dumbledore was the true head of the order but he was rarely around as he was running the school and working with the ministry.

Lily felt like she had known Marlene for such a long time, she shared details about herself and her life which she hadn't spoken to anyone about. She told her about her healer training and Marlene encouraged her to think about restarting her training. Lily promised her she would think about it and then departed and went to bed as Marlene had work in the morning.


	9. Home Sweet Home

Lily woke up gasping her air, she had been having a nightmare about being chased again. This time she was running towards an open window and just as she was going to jump out to get away from her pursuer, a flash of green light burst around her and she sat up suddenly breathing heavily. She was covered in sweat and she felt a overwhelming anxiety, as she realised it was just a dream her breathing slowed and she calmed down.

She walked around the apartment feeling a little bit like she was snooping again but Marlene had made her feel so welcome so Lily helped herself to some coffee and had a shower. Marlene had left her out some clothes to borrow until she was able to get all of her stuff from the house.

Lily waited for the boys to turn up and when there was a knock at the door she felt excited to see James, and Sirius as well surprisingly who she had grown to like over the last couple of days. She opened the door and smiled and faltered a little when she saw James wasn't there.

"Sorry to disappoint Evans, you're stuck with us this morning," Sirius said, he was leaning against the door frame casually and behind him was Fabian Prewitt who smiled and greeted Lily. She smiled at them and tried to hide her disappointment.

"James got a last minute mission to take care of. He's going to be gone for a week or so, he said to say sorry to bail on you but he'll see you when he gets back." Sirius said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Lily ignored his teasing and nodded.

"What's his mission?" She asked them ushering them in from the hallway. Sirius flung himself on the sofa, obviously familiar with the apartment.

"Top secret Red," He responded. "Even I don't know the full details but it's best you don't know. Dear Fabian offered to accompany us in case any of those pesky death eaters decide to appear and try and tickle charm us to death or whatever they do."

"Nice to see you again Lily." Fabian said smiling at her. She smiled and responded the same.

"Shall we go?" Lily asked as she put her wand up her sleeve, she was getting used to carrying it with her all the time again. They departed and Lily even apparated herself, she concentrated and visualised her beautiful garden and waved her wand around her.

Her landing could have been softer but she was proud of herself for getting all of her body parts to her house safely. Fabian graciously offered her a hand as she had stumbled to her knee on her landing and she gratefully took it and got to her feet. From the back of her house it looked completely fine, but upon closer inspection she saw everything wasn't quite as it seemed.

The structure was intact but she could see every window was smashed to pieces, she walked up the pathway into the back door and saw the door was already broken off the hinges. Sirius entered the house first, wand up and then Lily followed behind him, Fabian bringing up the rear.

She could tell both had a tension in them and she felt nervous entering her own home.

"Do you think someone could be here?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know." Sirius said, his usual jokey manner was hidden and his eyes darted around the house looking for movement. He waved his wand around and whispered a charm to detect any spells that could be in place like booby traps. Once happy they were good to move he waved his hands forward and Lily walked upstairs.

"Stay down here and keep an eye out Prewitt." Sirius said, Lily walked up the stairs and felt strange having Sirius follow her up to her bedroom.

The inside of the house was in disarray. Every drawer was pulled out, every cupboard blown apart. The door to her bedroom was charred and burnt as it it had been blasted with a powerful spell, perhaps in anger after she and James had got away.

She felt her heart hurt as she looked at her possessions, her Mum's things either destroyed or thrown around as if they were worth nothing. She felt a knot in her throat but she didn't want to cry so she swallowed it and took a deep breath before heading into her bedroom.

"How do you want to pack all your stuff up Evans?" Sirius asked kindly, seeing that this was hurting her to see.

"My trunk I guess." She said and he accio'd it upstairs for them to use. She began shrinking her clothes and anything that wasn't too damaged to bring with her. She worked quickly wanting to get this over and done with as soon as possible. Sirius stood guard outside to give her some space. She went into her Mother's old room and grabbed a few things, her jewellery and a few photo albums of happier times.

She finished packing and looked around, the house looked so different to her now, it looked like a memory of something in the past. She had been hiding out in it for so long, that she almost thought of it as a sort of prison now. She'd broken out though, she'd gotten friends, a life, something to live for. She suddenly felt like leaving it wouldn't be so hard anymore.

"I'm ready to go," Lily said and suddenly they heard raised voices downstairs. Her voice caught in her throat and Sirius launched himself down the stairs to see what the commotion was about with Lily on his tail.. As they landed at the bottom of the stairs they realised it wasn't quite the situation they expected.

"Where is she?" A women with dark hair and a pointy face screamed. "Who the hell are you? Get out of my mother's house right now!" The woman was yelling directly into Fabian's face and he held his hands up trying to defuse her anger. A portly man stood behind her looking furious but also a little afraid.

"Petunia!" Lily exclaimed and Sirius stopped in his tracks knowing Lily knew her.

"What the hell is going on Lily?" Petunia screamed still at the top of her lungs. "How dare you bring these people into this house!" She took a breath and glared at her sister furiously.

"Petunia, what are you doing here?" Lily asked trying to keep her voice calm but her older sister always brought out the worst in her.

"What am I doing here? I came over to collect Grandmother's tea set. I've always wanted it and I think it's my right seeing as you got the entire house. But seeing how you've looked after it I see that was a big mistake. This place is disgusting." Petunia said sniffing at the destroyed house which Petunia could see upon entering the building. Her husband grunted in agreement behind her and Sirius squinted his eyes at him in recognition and cocked his head taking him all in. A look that may have looked threatening if you didn't know Sirius.

"Vernon Dursley." He said suddenly out of the blue and Vernon jumped an inch in the air looking at all Sirius tall frame and clocking the wand he held in his hand.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, his voice gruff but shaking a little.

"Don't you dare tell your freak friends about us Lily - do you hear me!" Petunia barked again waving her finger at her sister. "I thought you'd left all of this behind you anyway, and were trying to be normal."

"I-" Lily tried to start but Petunia just interrupted her and continued berating her about the state of the house.

"Do you know what Petunia!" Lily said suddenly shouted, the volume of her voice even shocking her, it certainly shocked Petunia who went quiet suddenly as did Vernon. Lily took a deep breath and continued, "Do you know what… I'm not normal. I'm a WITCH. I've been a witch my whole life. I can't help it, I don't want to help it, I also can't help that you AREN'T a witch." She said and she could see the fire blaze behind her sister's eyes.

"You must be joking - I can't think of anything worse than being a freak like you!" She barked out. Lily almost laughed knowing how much that wasn't true.

"You tell yourself whatever you want Petunia." Lily said, "Take the stuff you want and get out of here." Lily said, she turned to the glass cabinet in the hallway which usually displayed her Grandmother's china set. She almost laughed when she saw it was smashed to bits but instead she raised her wand and waved it over the china, "Reparo" she whispered and the pieces of the china began flying around and piecing back together.

Petunia's eyes bulged out of her head at the sight of the magic and Vernon coughed out a "oh my god" before they turned and ran out of the house. Lily chuckled and finished the spell with a swish of her wand. Fabian looked a bit bewildered by the whole event.

"That's your sister?" He asked her.

"Yeah, sweet Petunia." She said sarcastically getting a chuckle from Sirius.

"I thought Molly was hard work, she's an angel in comparison." Fabian said seriously giving Lily a laugh.

"Yeah sorry about that. I'm finished packing, shall we get out of here?" Lily asked. She looked around the house. It definitely needed more fixing up but that was for another day.

She went and grabbed her trunk and then the three apparated back to her apartment where she thanked them and they left her alone. Sirius said he might see her later and winked making it clear he might pop by and see Marlene later.

Lily settled into her new situation living in Marlene's apartment. Marlene worked most days in St Mungo's so Lily found herself with a lot of free time. She made a call to the newspaper to explain that she had to go away for a while and didn't know when she would return, Gina said she would miss her and said she hoped she was happier wherever she was.

The week continued on and Lily tried to stay busy, when she wasn't hanging out with Marlene she had begun studying her old school books again which had ignited her old love of learning. She spend hours pouring over them, in particular she was reading through her old history books, researching about the Hogwarts founders. The incident with Hurtwell had peaked her curiosity and she had looked into the founders to see if she could find a connection to something that might help the order.

One day she even went to Diagon Alley with Marlene so she could pick up some more books on the history of also picked up an old book written by Hurtwell, it was a history of artifacts and she thought it might be helpful. She felt nervous going to Diagon Alley as she had been in hiding for over a week but Marlene had checked with Sirius and he had said it was fine as long as they stayed together. The trip was uneventful and Lily felt relieved that it seemed she could become a bit more normal and leave the house.

She enjoyed browsing the stores and she remembered all the weird and wonderful things she loved about the world she'd been estranged from. After their shopping trip they went to the Prewitt's bar to have a drinks. Gideon was in the back so Lily sat and chatted to Fabian who she got on well with. Marlene seemed distracted and when Sirius appeared her face darkened, Lily hadn't realised they weren't getting on so she wondered what the problem was. Sirius walked over and greeted Lily and Fabian then asked Marlene to speak privately and she grumbled but agreed and they walked over to the side of the bar out of earshot.

Lily continued to talk to Fabian, he told her about his family and how his sister Molly was married and already had three children, all boys, and how he'd had to babysit them recently.

"They honestly trashed this place, I don't know how she does it." He said laughing. Lily heard raised voices and she saw Marlene laying into Sirius, her face furious and her hands waving around. Sirius looked just as annoyed but looked as though he was trying to diffuse the situation. Lily looked back to Fabian trying to be discreet but she couldn't help but overhear certain words and she heard James' name being mentioned. After a few minutes she saw out of the corner of her eye Sirius storm out and she saw Marlene standing glaring at the exit which Sirius had barreled through.

Lily looked at Fabian who shrugged his shoulders and also looked a bit confused. They tried to pretend like nothing was wrong when she rejoined them and they had another drink before Marlene said she was ready to go so they left to go home. They got back to the apartment and Marlene was really quiet, Lily didn't want to intrude but she could see Marlene was upset about something.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked her and Marlene sat quietly in the lounge.

"Not really," Marlene said leaning her head back and sighing.

"Do you want to talk Lily asked her and Marlene sat up a little bit.

"Sorry about earlier. We shouldn't argue in public like that, it's not like we're a proper couple." Marlene said.

"Do you want to be?" Lily asked wondering if that was what the argument is about.

"No, I honestly like the way things are. I know he's only seeing me so I don't see any point in rocking the boat. The only thing I hate is that if Sirius wants to run off and do something dangerous he never thinks about asking me about it or seeing what I think." Marlene said, the worry on her face evident.

"What is it then? Did he do something?" Lily asked not sure if she was prying too far. Lily saw Marlene take another deep breath and Lily realised she was holding back tears.

"What's happened?" Lily asked sitting down next to Marlene to comfort her.

"You know Sirius is from like a totally toxic pureblood crazy family?" Marlene started and Lily nodded vaguely remembering Severus hanging around with Sirius' younger brother Regulus who was a pretty dark kid back at school. "Well he's found out his brother is wrapped up in this war, like deep in it, and he wants to help him so he's trying to find him. He's decided to go and try and find him and reason with him but it's too dangerous. When Sirius finally left home it wasn't out of choice. He'd just graduated from school and he told his Mum that he was moving in with James and she totally lost it. She hates the Potter's so much. She calls them blood traitors. She hates my family as much, I dread to think what she would do if she found out he was seeing me" She said with disdain in her voice. "When he told her she almost killed him, she actually used the Crucio curse on her own son. He only got away because he managed to apparate away but he barely did that."

"That's so terrible," Lily said feeling like her sister was a saint in comparison to this woman.

"He's an idiot though, he knows what will happen if he goes anywhere near those people." Marlene said. "And not just that he's decided to do it while James is away because he knows James would try and stop him too." She ran her hands over her head and looked deeply concerned.

"I don't know what to say. Sirius is very capable and I'm sure that he'll be okay." Lily said trying to reassure her.

"I hope so, he's an idiot but I really care about him." Marlene said, Lily felt for her friend, these dangerous times were awful for everyone. Seeing Marlene worry about this made Lily wonder if she should be worried about James and whatever he was up to.


	10. Sirius Trouble

Days past and neither girl heard from either of the boys. Marlene was either quiet or grumpy, clearly worried about them and Lily tried to keep busy. Lily felt like she had found something in the books she had purchased though. Hurtwell wrote about the artifacts he most admired a lot in his book but one she noticed he mentioned had something strange about it. Helga Hufflepuff's Cup was a magical cup that possessed many magical powers but Hurtwell said it was inconclusive the extent of these features. Most of the artifacts he mentioned were in the possession of Hogwarts school and were kept in either the Gringotts vault or in the school itself. However this one he vaguely mentioned was missing and hadn't been seen for years, however his description was vivid and it seemed like he had seen it first hand.

Lily bookmarked the page and as she got up preparing to note down her findings so she could owl Freya who she thought it would be best to tell first the door suddenly banged so loudly that she jumped into the air.

It sounded like someone was banging the door off its hinges and she was almost scared to open it but she heard a voice shouting from outside and recognised it as James. Marlene was out so she quickly ran to the door to open it. He looked a wreck, covered in sweat and a little dirty and his eye were rabid. He had a small cut above his right eye that looked fresh and a large bruise on his cheek bone.

"Sirius! Marlene!" He said barging in not even greeting Lily. Lily turned and watching him run into Marlene's room.

"They're not here James. Sirius is gone and Marlene's gone to see her parents. What's happened?" Lily asked following his frantic movements with her eyes. James ran over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a spare piece of parchment and quickly scribbled a note, his behaviour was so crazy that Lily daren't say anything.

"Where's Òir?" He asked suddenly, Lily paused then realised he meant the owl. Lily called out Morgan's name, not having changed it as it had kind of stuck for her. The bird flew in and James attached the note and quickly ushered the bird out of the window.

"Do you know where Sirius is?" James asked Lily pacing the apartment and scraping his hand through his hair anxiously.

"Marlene said he'd gone looking for his brother." Lily said and James swore loudly.

"Did she say anything else?" He asked, his eyes so serious that Lily almost felt scared of him

"No, he left two days ago." Lily said and James swore again and went to sprint out of the door.

"James wait!" She said running after him. She grabbed her wand and ran out of the door as he sprinted down the stairs of their apartment building. She managed to catch him as he reached the front door and she grabbed his arm.

"What's happened? Where are you going now?" She asked.

"I've been monitoring some of the high profile people that are suspected to be involved in the dark lords war and while I was there I overheard a few of them talking about Sirius. If he's gone after his brother and what they said is true then he's in deep trouble." James said swinging the door open.

"If you're going after him then I'm coming too!" Lily said suddenly, surprising herself. James turned and looked at her incredulously.

"No way, it' too dangerous." James said walking round the side of the apartment block and down a side alleyway so he could obviously apparate away. Lily took off after him though not letting him get away.

"No way!" She said grabbing his arm. "You're just going to barrel into a situation having no idea what you're getting yourself into." James stopped and looked angry.

"I need to go Lily, he's in trouble and this is just wasting more time!" James said sharing off her arm. He went to apparate and she grabbed him again and got pulled along with him into a spiral until they landed hard on the ground. James wobbled as he landed and then grabbed Lily harshly by the arm and dragged her over behind a nearby wall out of sight. Lily looked around and it looked like they were on the outskirts of a country estate, she'd spotted a big manor house in the distance.

"Are you crazy I told you this was too dangerous!" James said his voice low and furious. Lily rolled his eyes at his hypocrisy.

"You're here aren't you?" She asked.

"I'm a trained auror Lily. You're barely back a week using magic." James bit back furiously, Lily felt angry that he talked down to her this way.

"Well I'm here now so just shut up and let's find Sirius." She snapped back her tone final. He sighed angrily but knew they were wasting time.

"Just stay behind me." James said standing up and looking around.

"Where is this?" Lily asked quietly before they set off.

"This is the Malfoy mansion." James said and Lily shuddered, the Malfoy family were a notoriously dark family. She had many horrible memories of Lucius Malfoy from school she'd rather forget.

James led them over to an orchard that lead up to the house. The trees gave them cover as they crept towards the house. They couldn't see anyone around but they stayed low and had their wands out.

As they got nearer to the house James pulled out a cloak from inside his cloak and ushered Lily over. He pulled the cloak over both of them and she realised it was a cloak of invisibility. They crept towards the back patio of the house. No one was around but James carefully opened and closed the door and they snuck inside.

They'd entered a parlour room so grand Lily couldn't help but stare but the room had a cold essence to it. She looked at the wall and it was covered in stuffed heads of various magical creatures. Lily shivered getting a chill run down her spine. James had his arm round her to keep them both covered by the cloak and she liked the comfort of having him so close.

They walked through the room and just as they were about to walk into the next room which looked like the front entrance foyer they heard raised voices so they froze.

"I don't like this Lucius!" A woman's voice rang out. They moved as quietly as possible out into the hall and they could see the woman who was talking. She had white blonde hair styled up in a fancy coiffe and her clothes were pristeen.

"I don't care what you think Narcissa, this is what I've been ordered to do and therefore I do it! This brings us all favour with the dark lord." Lucius Malfoy said appearing from a room off to the side of the foyer. Lily froze when she saw Lucius. They stood still whilst the couple argued.

"I don't care, I'm not having this in my house. Keeping him here is only going to bring us trouble!" She said back, her voice filled with anger.

"This is my house Narcissa and what you think doesn't really matter." Lucius spat back coldly. Narcissa recoiled and touched her hair to regain her composure after his harsh words.

"If you think gaining favour means keeping blood traitors in our basement then you're a fool." She spat back harshly at him before turning and stalking away up the stairs of the grand house. He ignored her though and turned and went back into the room he'd come from.

James nudged Lily who was still a frozen and he motioned for her to walk. He mouthed the word " _basement_ " and lead her around to behind the staircase. The house was huge and she didn't know how he knew the way but she didn't stop to question it as he lead them through to a doorway which he slowly opened and they went through.

The doorway led to a staircase down and they closed the door behind them and headed down. As they reached the bottom of the stairs it lead to a large door which creepily had a small window which had bars on it. James peered through the window and gasped and quickly waved his wand over the lock and the door burst open. He threw the cloak off and ran forward and Lily saw what he'd gasped at.

A crumpled body in the corner of the basement was barely recognisable.

"Sirius!" He said dropping to his knees next to his friend and rolling him onto his back. He shook him and tried to get him to regain consciousness. Lily ran forward and quickly checked his pulse.

"He's breathing," She said letting out a sigh of relief. James grabbed Sirius arm and pulled it around his neck and Lily quickly did the same almost buckling under the weight. Sirius face was completely unrecognisable and covered in bruises. He seemed to come round a little and let out a low groan at the movement.

"We need to hurry and get him out of here." James said starting for the doorway. Just as they walked through a house elf appeared in front of them and it froze in his place. James tried to shoot a spell at it but before he could move it disappeared with a pop.

"Run!" He said and Lily and him picked up the pace running for the exit. They had just reached the top of the stairs when they heard a shout and footsteps. They rounded the corner and Lucius Malfoy was running towards them shooting spells one after the other. James jumped to action and started shooting back defence spells and Lily strained to keep Sirius up. They back towards the exit of the house knowing they couldn't apparate until they were outside.

Lucius was snarling so angrily as he fired the spells it was like he was possessed. James fired back a spell and it hit him on the shoulders and he let out a snarl in pain and stumbled. This gave Lily and James the chance to make a proper run for it and they grabbed Sirius and ran through the house and back out onto the patio. Once outside James called for Lily to apparate straight to the hospital and then he and Sirius would follow. She quickly sweeped her wand and as she did she heard a shout from James but she disappeared before she could see what was happening. She reappeared in the foyer of St Mungos and James appeared a second later but she saw he was bent over breathing heavily and he was barely holding onto Sirius.

"James!" She called running forward. "Help - someone help us!" She shouted running forward as James collapsed next to Sirius who was still unconscious.

Healers ran forward and tended to Sirius first who was in the worst state. They took him away quickly on a stretcher. James was on all fours and he coughed and Lily could see he was gripping his side.

"Malfoy got one lucky one in before we apparated." He said pulling his shirt up to look and there was a big gash across his ribs. Lily winced and a healer came forward to lead him off to get treatment. Lily sat on the floor and caught her breath as she calmed down. A Healer came over to her and helped her up and asked her to come through to be checked over.

After she'd had her few cuts and grazes healed she was sat in a waiting room when Marlene suddenly ran in, her face was grey and her eyes were frantic with worry.

"Where is he?" She cried out barely holding herself together. Lily stood up and tried to still her friend.

"He's in with the healers, they haven't told us anything yet." Lily said.

"And James?" She asked.

"He had a bad cut but he's going to be okay." Lily said and Marlene collapsed into a chair and put her head in her hands. Lily sat next to her and rubbed her back to comfort her.

They sat and waited together for what seemed like an hour before James appeared seeming to be better although he looked exhausted. Marlene jumped out of her chair and hugged him tightly before stepping back and punching him in the arm.

"How could you be so stupid?" She said almost crying. He winced at her hit but just pulled her into another hug and she let out a little cry.

"Is he going to be okay?" She choked out. James shook his head.

"I don't know, they're in with him now doing all they can." He said quietly, his face wracked with concern. Lily stood up to say something and James let go of Marlene and looked at her.

"Marlene can you just give me a minute to talk to Lily?" He asked. Marlene agreed and walked off to find a water.

"I'm glad you're okay." Lily said quietly. James looked straight at her and looked like he was thinking of what to say.

"I honestly don't even know what to say to you right now Lily." He said, his angry tone surprising her.

"Why?" She asked taken aback.

"You jumping in and coming with me earlier was so reckless and stupid. I thought bringing you into the order would mean you'd understand more but I didn't think you'd lose your mind and decide to start putting yourself in dangerous situations." He said, his voice fuming. Lily blinked and took in what he said and then felt anger spread through her.

"If I hadn't come do you think you'd have even made it out of there?" She said back matching his tone.

"Yes I do. I would have worked it out. You jumping in and putting yourself in danger just gave me another thing to worry about. You just need to stay out of it!" He said pointing at her and she took a step back.

"You're ridiculous. I helped and nothing bad happened," she replied trying to calm the situation because people were staring.

"What about next time? If I have to worry about you jumping into dangerous situations I don't want you involved at all." He barked out.

She was about to respond but Freya ran into the waiting room and she ran straight over to James and hugged her son. Lily watched them embrace and felt like she should give them privacy so she went off to find Marlene. Marlene was waiting outside the room they were working on Sirius in. She had her head in her hands and Lily could see the tears streaming down her face. She sat with her friend and they waited patiently for news.


End file.
